Garbine Muguruza of Spain in action against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
(Reuters)
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Sabalenka, who claimed her second title of the season at the
Wuhan Open last week, edged a tight opening set and the Belarusian took
control in the next to overpower Spaniard Muguruza and secure victory in an
hour and 46 minutes.
Former French Open champion Ostapenko struggled with a wrist
injury before losing to local hope Wang in 55 minutes.
Guangzhou champion Wang, who has won 14 of her last 17 matches,
next plays former world number one Karolina Pliskova or Aliaksandra
Sasnovich.
World number three Angelique Kerber fought back from 5-3 down in
the first set to beat Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(4) 6-1.
US Open champion Naomi Osaka crushed Danielle Collins 6-1 6-0 to
set up a clash with 10th seed Julia Goerges who beat the Japanese the last
time they met in Charleston this season.
American Sloane Stephens took advantage of an error-prone
display by China's Zheng Saisai to win 6-1 6-3 and set up a clash with
Dominika Cibulkova who beat Daria Gavrilova 6-3 6-3.
On the men’s side, US Open finalist Juan Martin del Potro
swatted aside Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the
China Open second round.
Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in action against Albert
Ramos Vinolas of Spain. (Reuters)
Del Potro, playing his first match since losing to Novak
Djokovic in the US Open final last month, looked in fine form as he fired 10
aces and won 86 percent of points on his first serve to seal victory in 90
minutes.
The 30-year-old Argentine can qualify for next month's ATP
Finals in London for the first time since 2013 if he reaches the final in
Beijing. He plays Russia's Karen Khachanov next.
Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer have secured their
places in the season-ending tournament.
Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, a finalist in Beijing two years ago,
began his campaign with a solid 7-5 6-3 victory over American Tennys
Sandgren.
Spain's Fernando Verdasco was made to work hard before beating
France's Gael Monfils 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5) in two hours and 23 minutes.
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Source: NDO