World number one Ash Barty finishes day one at the top of the Red Group after a 5-7 6-1 6-2 win over Belinda Bencic.
After losing the first set, the Roland Garros champion only lost three games as she secured top position in the Red Group after the first day at the WTA Finals.
There was not much Bencic could do after suffering a foot injury in the second set which hampered her movement and increased Barty’s confidence.
In the other match of the day, Naomi Osaka won her opening match by edging out Petra Kvitová 7-6(1) 4-6 6-4 in an Australian Open final rematch.
Having been in the doubles event at the WTA Finals before, Barty started the match confidently as she looked to end an incredible season in the best fashion possible.
On the other side of the net, Bencic showed her early nerves having never been at the WTA Finals in her career before and fended off an early break point.
It was a comfortable opening set for both with Barty using a good variety of serves to open up the angles while Bencic showed authority with her impressive power.
The difference though proved to be the top seed’s lack of first serves as she was once again struggling with the ball toss.
This was all that Bencic needed as she forced the errors from the slice backhand of Barty to secure the break for a 6-5 lead.
An ace secured the first set for the world number 7 in 50 minutes as Barty now needed to respond.
Respond is exactly what Barty managed to do as the 23 year-old played much better taking up a more aggressive court position on return.
An early 3-0 lead was created as Bencic was now struggling with her movement and looked to be in serious trouble as the momentum had swung away from her.
Just like Bencic did in the first set, an ace secured the set for Barty as she levelled the match at one set all.
👏 @ashbarty smoothly claims the second set against Bencic, 6-1#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/BKqsO9h3aP
— wta (@WTA) October 27, 2019
Despite a lengthy medical time-out as well as a confident start, Bencic was unable to take enough risks to win the match.
A lucky net cord sealed the first break at 2-1 and things just managed to get better for the Australian as she then managed to get the double break.
The match ended with a 10th ace of the match from the world number one as she ended day one at the top of the Red Group.
👏👏 @ashbarty defeats Bencic in three sets, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, at the Shiseido @WTAFinals Shenzhen pic.twitter.com/HgWuJswC9D
— wta (@WTA) October 27, 2019
A great performance which saw her take the momentum from the Asian swing into the WTA Finals as Bencic looks to heal that foot in-time for a second match.
Next Barty will play Naomi Osaka on Tuesday after securing her first win at the WTA Finals of her career with a 7-6(1) 4-6 6-4 win over Petra Kvitová.
The Japanese star hit 12 aces as she looks to end the season with a big title and after the match she was glad to get a win under her belt, “I think just like winning given the circumstances,” Osaka said after her match.
“I’m not one who plays that well in the first round (of tournaments). It was very difficult for me to play against her. I just tried to fight no matter what and I’m very glad that I was able to win.”
As for Kvitová, she will look to avoid elimination when she will play Bencic on Tuesday.
