Wozniacki on course in Wuhan
Denmarks world No.2 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Swedens Rebecca Peterson on Tuesday to advance to the third round of the Wuhan Open.
The reigning Australian Open champion beat the qualifier 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 28 minutes in her opening game of the tournament, having received a bye for the first round.
Wozniacki has struggled with injuries since her winning the title at Eastbourne in June, suffering first round exits at Montreal, Cincinnati and Tokyo.
Against Peterson, the Dane was always in control, making just four unforced errors and first-serving well over 70 percent throughout the match.
After an early break gave Wozniacki a 3-1 lead, she broke the Swede again to set her up to serve for the set at 52.
Peterson rallied, however, breaking the world number 2 after saving three set points, before succumbing 6-4 in the first set.
That attempt at a comeback appeared to drain Peterson of much of her energy, and the second set was a stroll for Wozniacki, who closed out the match 6-1.
She will face Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig in the round-of16 on Wednesday.
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic defeated Serbias Aleksandra Krunic in straight sets also to advance to the third round.
The fifth-seeded Kvitova sealed the match with one of 13 aces she hit on her way to beating the World No 63 6-3, 6-4.
The Czech exacted some measure of revenge on Krunic, who had won the pair’s only previous meeting when she stunned Kvitova in the third round of the 2014 US Open.
Kvitova, who has won at Wuhan twice in the past four years, is looking to add a third title to her haul.
She advances to the third round, where she will face either Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands or Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Madison Keys of the United States was forced to retire in the second set of her second round match against Germanys Angelique Kerber on Tuesday.
Keys retired at four games to one down in the second set after picking up an injury to her left knee.
Kerber, the reigning Wimbledon champion, had swept the world number 18 aside in the first set 6-0, during which Keys hit 22 unforced errors.
The American was finally able to get on the scoreboard early in the second set, but could not overcome her injury to get a foothold in the match and trouble her opponent.
Kerber moves on to the third round, where she will face either Saisai Zheng of China or Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.