Olympic champion and world number 7 Zheng Qinwen beat Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 6-4 in 1 hour and 42 minutes to achieve her first career main draw win at the WTA 1000 in Wuhan.
Zheng Qinwen has become the first Chinese woman to clinch 40 wins since Li Na in 2013.
Zheng hit nine aces moving past Elena Rybakina to lead the WTS Tour with 345 aces this year.
Zheng set up a Round of 16 match against Leylah Fernandez, who leads 2-0 against the Chinese player.
Zheng has improved her record to 21-3 since her first round defeat at Wimbledon last July. She has won the Palermo Ladies Open, the Olympic gold medal in Paris and reached her second quarter final at the US Open and her first WTA 1000 quarter final in Beijing.
Zheng is aiming to become the first Chinese player to qualify for the WTA Finals since 2013. She started the week at number 8 on the WTA Race to Rhyadh, one spot of an automatic qualifying spot. She is looking to make up ground on world number 7 and US Open semifinalist Emma Navarro.
“After the Olympic Games I have had a really busy schedule. I have to play many tournaments. Mentally I am tired after each match. I face a lot of stress. I need to deal with the stress, but as of now I am feeling OK. It’s like when you don’t want to go to the office, you have to go to work. I am playing in Wuhan. This is my hometown. It’s another place. I may not want to go to work”, said Zheng.
Jessica Pegula reached the Round of 16 after Anastasia Potapova withdraw from the match due to a right ankle injury. Pegula will take on Wang Xinyu for a spot in the quarter final. The winner of this match will face either Heather Baptiste or Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Erika Andreeva beat her younger sister Mirra 6-3 6-1. Mirra earned an early break in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead and had a point to go up a double break for 4-1, but Erika won five consecutive games to win the first set 6-3. Erika earned two breaks of serve in the second and seventh games and served out the win on her third match point.
“It was tough for both of us. First experience, and both of us were happy it happened at a big tournament, but I am not sure we enjoyed it”, said Erika Andreeva.
Andreeva set up a match against Olympic doubles match against Jasmine Paolini, who beat Yue Yuan 6-1 6-3 after 1 hour and 35 minutes. Paolini has moved ahead of Elena Rybakina into fourth place of the WTA Ranking.
Paolini won 73& of her first serve points and saved six of the eight break points she faced. The Italian player did not convert her first break point in the opening game before breaking serve in the third game. She earned two double break points in the fifth game and converted her first chance with a backhand return. Yue Yuan pulled both breaks back to draw level to 4-4. Paolini converted her fourth break point with a return winner in the ninth game and served it out on her second set point.
Paolini faced four break points in the first game of the second set, but she saved them. The Wimbledon and Roland Garros finalist saved two more break points in the fourth game before breaking serve in the fifth game. Paolini held on her serve and earned a double break on her third match point in the ninth game.
