Caroline Wozniacki won the 11th of her last 12 matches with her convincing 6-3 6-2 win over Samanta Stosur and reached the second round at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, a Premier 5 Tournament.
Wozniacki, who won her 24th career title in Tokyo on Sunday and reached the semifinals at this year’s US Open, got the first break in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead. Stosur broke straight back in the fifth game but Wozniacki broke again immediately to open up a 4-2 lead. The Dane held her next two service game to win the first set 6-3. Wozniacki went up a set and break in the first game of the second set. Stosur broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Wozniacki got a double break in the fifth and seventh games and served out the second set at deuce to seal the win. Wozniacki set up a second round match against Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova, who recently reached the final at the WTA International tournament in Tokyo.
This year’s US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova beat her compatriot Lucie Safarova 6-3 7-5 in the last match of the night to advance to the third round. The first set went on serve until the eighth game when Pliskova got the only break to 30. Pliskova saved a break-back point in the next game before serving out for the first set at deuce with her third ace. Safarova bounced back by breaking in the second game of the second set but Pliskova broke straight back in the third game. Both players traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games. The next three games went on serve before Pliskova rallied from 15-40 to save two consecutive set points.
Pliskova broke serve at deuce in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead and served out for the match to 15 with an ace.
Simona Halep was leading 6-3 2-0, as her compatriot Irina Camelia Begu was forced to withdraw from the match due to a back injury. Halep, who pulled out of the Tokyo tournament last week because of a harmstring injury, went down a break in the opening game but broke straight back in the second game. Halep broke again in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead en route to winning the first set 6-2. Halep broke in the first game of the second set before Begu called it a day after the second game. Halep won all her five head-to-head matches against Begu.
“This was the fourth time we have played this season and I am glad now it’s 2-2. I know how difficult it can be to play her and how dangerous she is”, said Halep.
Barbora Strykova beat Sara Errani 6-1 3-6 6-1 avenging the two defeats against the Italian, who won their previous two head-to-head matches in the Dubai final and at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and held a 7-1 win-loss record in their head-to-head matches. Strykova broke three times and never faced any break points in the whole match.
Errani went down 0-40 in the opening game and faced three break points. She saved the first two opportunities but Strykova converted her third chance. Both players held their next three service games until the fourth game as Strykova was leading 3-1. Strykova won the three final games of the set with two breaks in the fifth and seventh games to wrap up the opening set 6-1 after 35 minutes. Errani reaceived a medical time-out before the start of the second set.
Strykova recovered from 15-40 down to hold her serve at deuce in the first game of the second set at deuce but Errani converted her break point in a marathon third game as Strykova hit her volley into the net. Strykova broke straight back in the next game to love. Errani bounced back by breaking again in the seventh game to take the 4-3 lead with a passing shot. Errani closed out the second set with another break at deuce.
Strykova got three breaks to race out to a 5-0 lead. Errani got one break back in the sixth game but Strykova broke to love to seal the 33-minute third set 6-1.
Elina Svitolina came back from a break down in the third set to edge past Bethanie Mattek Sands 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Daria Kasatkina made her main draw debut with a convincing 6-0 6-4 win over Julia Goerges. Caroline Garcia beat Mirjana Lucic Baroni 6-2 6-4 to set up a second round match against Madison Keys.
