World No.1 Angelique Kerber recovered from a sluggish opening set to see off Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of the China Open.
Kerber’s start to the match resembled that of a poker player as she gave away little indication of the emotion that she was feeling compared to an highly animated Siniakova. The inexperience of the Czech 20-year-old played into the hands of the German with Kerber breaking in the first game of the match before losing the advantage three games later. The firepower was certainly lacking for the top seed, who was bombarded with a series of winners from her opponent. Despite the somewhat lackluster play, three consecutive unforced errors from Siniakova in the ninth game rewarded Kerber with a trio of opportunities to move ahead 5-4. The break was then sealed following another forehand error from the Czech. Closing out the set was no issue for the top seed as a serve out wide secured the lead.
The valiant efforts invested by Siniakova in the early stages of the match soon took its toll as Kerber began to intensify the pressure. A series of erratic shots from the world No.56 aided the US Open champion to secure a double break for 3-0 with ease. Despite losing one of those breaks, the damaged inflicted by the top seed was too much for her opponent to contend with. Serving for a place in the third round, Kerber took the win following another costly error from her rival.
During the encounter, Kerber produced only five unforced errors compared to her opponents 23. Furthermore, she produced 14 winners and won 8/8 points at the net.
Muguruza Battles through
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza required almost two hours to defeat Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 7-6(5). The second seed enjoyed a impressive start to the match as she raced to a 6-2, 2-0, lead before experiencing some tough resistance from the Kazakh player. Struggling with her service consistency, the French Open champion was broken four times in the second set and failed to convert a duo of match points as proceedings went into a tiebreaker.
The tiebreak followed the same trend as the set with the Spaniard grabbing the early advantage before Putintseva clawed her way back to level. Despite the roller coaster journey, Muguruza closed the match out after a forehand shank from Putintseva.
This week Muguruza can secure her pace in the WTA Finals in Singapore if she reaches the final in Beijing. In the third round should could face a tricky match against Petra Kvitova. Kvitova will play Chinese qualifier Wang Yafan in her second round match on Tuesday.
Other winners on Monday include US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova, who battled from a set down to defeating Lucie Safarova 5-6(7), 6-1, 6-4, in just over two hours. The Czech could also qualify for the WTA Finals later today if Madison Keys loses her match against Kristina Mladenovic.
