Third seed Karolina Pliskova has kept her No.1 chances alive with a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, win over China’s Zhang Shuai.
The Czech player appeared on course to clinch a straightforward win after claiming the opening set in under 40 minutes. Meanwhile, Zhang appeared to be struggling physically. Receiving a medical time out during the match for treatment on her shoulder. The change of momentum occurred midway through the second set when a Pliskova double fault awarded her opponent the chance to break, which she did for a 3-1 lead. Cheered on by her home crowd, Zhang continued to cause problems for the Czech player by taking the match into a decider.
Regardless of the 29 places separating the two players in the WTA rankings, the remainder of the encounter saw little disparity between the two. It wasn’t until the Chinese player had to serve to stay in the match at 4-5 that the pressure took its toll. A Zhang backhand ploughing into the net granted Pliskova two chances to claim the win. She did so on the second when a forehand down the line triggered another costly error from her rival.
“It’s always tough to play her. We have already played a few times,” Said Pliskova, who extends her winning record against Zhang to 6-0. “I was ready for a tough battle today and I’m so happy that I’m through, it was close.”
This week could see the 25-year-old reclaim the world No.1 spot depending on the performance of Garbine Muguruza. Whilst the top spot is in sight, Pliskova’s immediate focus is on her own performance and trying to produce a better result in Wuhan than last year. In 2016 she went out of the third round in straight sets to Dominika Cibulkova.
“I always want to play better than I was playing last year. Right now I won one round, so hopefully I can win one more. I guess that improve my record from last year.” Pliskova explained.
“I’m going to have a tough match in the next one as well, so I want to be ready for it.” She later added.
Pliskova will next play China’s Wang Qiang.
Radwanska’s magic 500
Agnieszka Radwańska has clinched her 500th main draw win on the tour after defeating Germany’s Julia Goerges 7-5, 7-5. The Polish ninth seed was tested throughout the encounter and was broken two consecutive times during the start of the second set. Still, she managed to edge her way through with the help of a steady winner-error ratio of 12-12. A sharp contrast to Geroges’ 28-32.
“I lost to Julia just a few weeks ago, so I knew what I would have to do,” Radwanska said of Goerges during her on-court interview. “I know that she can really play great tennis, especially now, so I’m really glad to win in two sets.”
“She’s serving very good, so I’m also prepared for that, and of course when I have any chance to break, I was really focusing on that very much,” she continued. “That was the key in that match. I was just better today for a few points — that’s it.”
Radwanska, who is yet to win a WTA title this season, will take on Australia’s Ash Barty in the third round. On Monday Barty knocked out Johanna Konta in straight sets.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Svetlana Kuznetsova crashed out 6-3, 6-3, to Alize Cornet and Ekaterina Makarova breezed past Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-4.
