Number 1 seed Barbora Krejcikova beat number 11 seed Magda Linette 6-2 6-4 in the Azalea Group at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, but the match was tougher than the score suggests.
Krejcikova has improved her head-to-head record against Linette to 3-0.
Krejcikova won three-deuce service games in the first set, but she broke Linette twice to clinch the first set 6-2. The Czech player all six break points that she faced in the first set.
The 2021 Roland Garros champion rallied from 0-3 down in the second set. Linette held a point to go up a 4-0 lead, but Krejcikova won six of the last seven games to seal the second set 6-4.
Krejcikova has claimed two WTA titles in Dubai and San Diego and reached the final in Zhengzhou.
Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Madison Keys 6-2 6-4 in the Camelia Group.
Haddad Maia fended off six of the seven break points she faced. The Brazilian player raced out to a 4-1 lead with a break in the second game of the opening set. Keys broke back in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4. Haddad Maia sealed the first set with a break at love in the 10thgame, after Keys made a series of forehand errors serving at 4-5. The second set went on serve until the 10th game, when Haddad Maia broke serve on her first match point with a return winner.
Haddad Maia has clinched her first top 20 since beating Ons Jabeur in the Roland Garros quarter finals last June.
Chinese wild card Zhu Lin beat Veronika Kudemertova 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 in the Rose Group. Zhu went down a break twice in the first set. Kudemertova held two set points on Zhu’s serve at 5-4 and a third at 6-5. Zhu saved them with holds of serve to set up a tie-break. Both players went on serve in the first 11 ponts of the tie-break. Zhu earned a first set point at 6-5. Zhu earned the first mini-break, as Kudemertova sent a forehand error into the net.
Zhu raced out to a 4-0 lead with two breaks and earned her first match point with her second ace at 5-1. She converted her second match point when Kudemertova sent a service return long after 2 hours and 12 minutes to score her seventh career top 20 win.
Zhu avenged the defeat to Kudemertova in the first round at Roland Garros last year.
