By Tennis Now | Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Left-hander Kristyna Pliskova pumped 11 aces dismissing second-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, 6-1, 6-4 at the Shenzhen Open.
Photo credit: Shenzhen Open
The reigning Roland Garros champion fell, while the two-time former French Open champion rose in Shenzhen.
Left-hander Kristyna Pliskova pumped 11 aces dismissing second-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, 6-1, 6-4 in 80 minutes at the Shenzhen Open.
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The 25-year-old Pliskova posted her first career Top 10 victory against the world No. 7.
“I think my serve was great today, especially in the first set," the 61st-ranked Pliskova said. "The court was a little bit fast so it’s a bit tricky for both of us. It’s like the first player to play fast will win the point. I’m really happy I won. The crowds here are bigger than last year so it’s a great atmosphere for us players.”
Ostapenko, who only arrived in Shenzhen on Sunday after a busy schedule that included an exhibition victory over Serena Williams in Abu Dhabi last week, notched eight double faults and 27 unforced errors as she struggled to find any rhythm during the encounter.
“I wasn’t feeling good today because I just arrived about a day ago," the 2017 Roland Garros champion said. "The time zone is different with different conditions and I think I’m still jetlagged. I did the best I could under the circumstances.”
On a day which saw second and third seeds Ostapenko and Zhang Shuai crash out, it was Maria Sharapova who stood tall scoring a thrilling second-round victory over two-time finalist Alison Riske.
The 30-year-old former world No.1 overturned a one set, one-break deficit to defeat her American opponent 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 24 minutes.
Sharapova could not recover from an early break in the first set but when her serve was broken in the third game of the second set, she responded immediately with breaks in the fourth and eighth games to force a decider. She eventually took the third set in some style, hitting three aces and converting six out of nine break opportunities.
“I thought it was a really good test and my opponent played really well," Sharapova said. "My unforced errors in the beginning of the first set maybe gave her some confidence as well. I’m really happy with the way I came through and came back. With the little time left to prepare for the Australian Open, these are the types of matches that I want to get through to set up a chance to improve."
Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas scored the second big upset of the day when she knocked out third seed and world No.35 Zhang Shuai in the second round, winning 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in an epic back and forth encounter lasting two hours and 25 minutes.
The diminutive 24-year-old seemed to have lost the upper hand after relinquishing a 4-0 lead in the second set tie-break but after saving four break points in the seventh game of the third set, she regained momentum and broke her opponent in the final game of the match to complete her second career victory against Zhang in four months. Their first meeting was in the second round at Tokyo last September.
“I’m very happy. It was a really tough match against a great player," said Diyas, who trains in Guangzhou. "It was a little bit up and down. I had some chances in the second set to finish it but she played well at the end of that set. Of course, I was a little bit down but I told myself to just focus on every point and don’t think about what happened and I’m happy it worked.”
Eighth seed Timea Babos of Hungary continued her fine form here in Shenzhen, taking just 64 minutes to defeat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-2, 6-1 and move into the quarterfinal.
The youngest player left in the main draw, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, defeated qualifier Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-0 in 51 minutes to also book her quarterfinal spot.
The 19-year-old world No.73 (career high), who made the finals at Tianjin last October and won the Mumbai 125K in November, hit five aces and saved all four break points she faced during the match.
In the only other singles match of the day, Romania’s Ana Bogdan got sweet revenge for her first round defeat against Italy’s Camila Giorgi here last year, this time prevailing 6-4, 6-2 in 80 minutes to move into the second round.
In doubles action, top seeded Czech duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova eased past the Montenegro-Russian pair of Danka Kovinic and Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-2 in 55 minutes to book their third career quarterfinal as partners.
Meanwhile, second seeds Raluca Olaru and Olga Savchuk suffered a surprisingly tame exit at the hands of Nicole Gibbs and Carol Zhao. The American-Canadian pair, playing together for only their second time in three years, won 6-1, 6-3 in exactly one hour.
In an all-Romanian doubles quarterfinal, Simona Halep and Irina-Camelia Begu overcame a one set deficit to defeat compatriots Irina Bara and Mihaela Buzarnescu 4-6, 6-4, 13-11 in a hard fought encounter to move into the last four. The young pair of Bara and Buzarnescu were up 7-0 in the super tie-breaker before Halep and Begu made an incredible recovery to win.
World No. 1 Halep is back in singles action tomorrow as the remaining four second-round matches are set to be played on Centre Court starting at noon local time.
The Romanian top seed plays China’s Duan Ying-Ying, who she had defeated in Eastbourne in June last season, while her doubles partner Begu, the No. 4 seed, will take on Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the day’s first match on Centre Court.
Defending champion Siniakova, seeded sixth this year, will play local wild card Wang Yafan in her second round match, while the final match of the day will see Pliskova taking on Bogdan for the third time on tour, having won both their last encounters in the 2016 Linz semifinal and the 2015 25K Glasgow final.