Ukrainian Elina Svitolina scored her second win this year over a world No. 1, ousting Angelique Kerber in the round of 16 in Beijing yesterday, while Taiwan’s Chan sisters cruised into the doubles semi-finals.
Nineteenth-ranked Svitolina took just two sets to beat newly crowned No. 1 Kerber — who ascended to the top spot at the US Open, the same week she also claimed her second Grand Slam crown — with a 6-3, 7-5 win.
The 22-year-old left Serena Williams in tears in Rio de Janeiro in August, denying the 22-time Grand Slam champion a fifth Olympic gold medal with a straight set win.
Photo: AP
“When they announce [the names at the start of the march], you have this weird feeling because you realize you’re playing against world No. 1,” Svitolina said after the match. “I try to really don’t think about it. If I think too much, I lose my way.”
Kerber, who had her right thigh taped during the match, had a break lead in each set, but appeared glued to the baseline and was unable to take control.
“I know that I have to move very well when I play my game, and I couldn’t play my game like I play,” Kerber told reporters.
Photo: Reuters
The German still plans to play in Hong Kong next week as she chases points to end the year at No. 1, but her right leg might alter her plans.
“Still it’s in my schedule to play Hong Kong. It’s right after the match, so I don’t know exactly with my leg or whatever, but it’s still in my schedule,” she said.
In the women’s doubles, Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan defeated Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia in their quarter-final, winning in two sets 6-2, 6-0.
In the semis today they face either Germany’s Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, or the Canadian-Spanish duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Maria Sanchez.
Briton Johanna Konta secured her first-ever singles win over Karolina Pliskova in a three-set tie break, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2).
With a win over the sixth-ranked Czech, Konta — currently at No. 14 — moved closer to breaking into the top 10 for the first time.
The win also moved the 25-year-old into 10th position in the race for the eight-player WTA Final in Singapore, meaning she could play if one of the eight dropped out.
If fellow quarter-finalist Petra Kvitova, currently 12th in the race, continues her stellar Asian run, the Briton could be nudged out.
Agnieszka Radwanska secured her second consecutive win over former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki to reach the China Open quarter-finals.
The pair have met three times in as many weeks, with Wozniacki coming out on top in the first encounter in Tokyo.
Wozniacki went on to bag the title in the Japanese capital, but Radwanska ended her seven-match winning streak at last week’s Wuhan Open by ousting the Dane in the round of 16.
Radwanska, ranked No. 3, booked her Beijing quarter-final spot on the third match point with an impressive run to the net to return a drop shot from the Dane. Wozniacki lobbed the return, but the Pole made it to that one to take the match 6-3, 6-1.
“I knew nothing’s going to come for free. I was really trying to be aggressive from the first point and also from the return,” Radwanska told reporters.
“We know each other for 17 years. Practicing together as well almost every tournament, playing some matches against each other. I think we know about each other everything,” she said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
JAPAN OPEN
AFP, TOKYO
French second seed Gael Monfils yesterday advanced to the Japan Open quarter-finals with a victory over compatriot Gilles Simon in a field blighted by injury.
The world No. 8 nailed seven aces to oust Simon 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 16 minutes.
The triumph was 30-year-old Monfils’ second victory against Simon, ranked 30th in the world, in their eight ATP meetings.
Monfils, who has made it to the semi-finals at the US Open, but fell to Novak Djokovic, was a runner-up at the Japan Open’s 2010 edition, when Rafael Nadal triumphed.
In the quarter-finals today, the Frenchman faces Croatian seventh seed Ivo Karlovic, who tiptoed past Serb Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7/5).
Gilles Muller beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 6-4 and is to play Australian Nick Kyrgios, who received a pass after Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic retired due to a back problem.
The tournament has seen a number of major players pull out through injury.
Defending champion and US Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka did not take part in the Tokyo event over back trouble, while local favorite Kei Nishikori, winner in 2014 and 2012, could not finish his second-round match on Wednesday because of muscle strain.
Nishikori plans to skip next week’s Shanghai Masters, but is slated to return to the court at the Swiss Indoors Basel meet later this month.
Eight seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain retired with injury on Tuesday.
Injuries also forced Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, Japan Open winner in 2013, to skip the tournament after receiving an invitation to join as a wildcard.
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