Canadian rising star Bianca Andreescu has extended her winning streak to 14 matches after coming through a lacklustre encounter against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the China Open on Monday.
Playing in her first match since defeating Serena Williams in the final of the US Open, the world No.6 overcame a mid-match blip to prevail 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. It was a far from perfect performance from Andreescu, who could only win 39% of her second service points and dropped serve four times in total. Nevertheless, in the decider she managed to increase her level to book a place in the third round. Finishing the match with 19 winners to 31 unforced errors.
“I wanted to just keep the momentum going,” the 19-year-old told reporters during her press conference.
“I’m on a roll right now, hopefully I can just keep it up because I think it gives me a lot of confidence,” she added.
Andreescu has won 40 out of 44 matches played so far in 2019 and is yet to lose to a top 10 player. Besides her US Open triumph, she has also won titles in Indian Wells and at the Rogers Cup.
“I don’t want to sound cocky or anything, but I kind of forgot how it feels to lose, which I think is a good thing.” She explained.
World No.23 Elise Mertens will be the next test for Andreescu. The Belgian dismissed Petra Martin 6-2, 6-3, in her match first round match. It will be the second meeting between the two players in as many months. At the US Open Andreescu prevailed in three sets.
“I’m going to go into it like I do every other match. I kind of have an idea of how she plays, she knows how I play now. I think it will be a tough battle no matter what,” Andreescu previewed.
Halep’s risk fails
Elsewhere one reigning grand slam champion has crashed out of the tournament. Simona Halep could only win five games during her 6-2, 6-3, loss to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova. The Romanian has been hampered by a back injury and withdrew from the Wuhan Open last week. Following her first round win on Sunday, Halep said she was still ‘not 100 per cent.’
Shortly after her exit, Halep confirmed that she will be undergoing an MRI scan. Raising fears over her participation for the rest on the season with the WTA Finals less than a month away. She has already qualified for the end-of-season event.
“I didn’t recover well after my first match so it was very tough for me to play and she played really well,” Halep said.
“The injury from Wuhan is getting worse so I have to go home and take an MRI (scan), take a break and do some treatment.”
As for Alexandrova, she will take on either 12th seed Aryna Sabalenka or Daria Kasatkina next.
Finally, defending champion Caroline Wozniacki raced into the second round with a 6-1, 6-3, win over Lauren Davis.
Results in full
First round
(11) Madison Keys USA def Karolina Muchova CZE 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Elise Mertens BEL def Petra Martic CRO, 6-2, 6-3
Jennifer Brady USA def Amanda Anisimova USA 6-7(4), 7-6 (2), 6-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS def Veronika Kudermetova RUS 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
(5) Bianca Andreescu CAN def Aliaksandra Sasnovich BLR 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic def Jelena Ostapenko LAT 6-2, 6-1
16-Caroline Wozniacki DEN def Laruren Davis USA 6-1, 6-3
Second round
(8) Kiki Bertens NED def Dayana Yastremska UKR 7-6 (5), 6-3
Ekaterina Alexanderova RUS def (6) Simona Halep ROM 6-2, 6-3
