Kenin & Garcia advance to second round in Zhengzhou
ZHENGZHOU, China, Sept 9, (RTRS): Sofia Kenin staved off a late comeback attempt by Chloe Paquet to defeat the Frenchwoman 6-2, 7-5 and reach the second round of the inaugural Zhengzhou Open on Monday.
Sixth seed Kenin, seeking a third WTA title this year following triumphs in Hobart and Mallorca, rallied from a break down in the second set to close out the win after 83 minutes in sweltering conditions.
“Chloe is a tough player. I lost to her in Strasbourg, so I knew I needed to figure out a way to win,” Kenin, who next plays local hope Lu Jingjing or Alize Cornet, said.
“Conditions are really hot. I’m kind of used to it... but it’s not easy. I’m happy to have gotten through it.”
Eighth seed Caroline Garcia overcame a mid-match wobble to overcome Czech Republic’s Tereza Martincova 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 while Petra Martic beat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-1.
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva battled past Tamara Zidansek 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in a rematch of this year’s Nuremberg Cup final to move into the second round.
Three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber, who was beaten in the opening round of the US Open, is among the main contenders in Zhengzhou having taken a wildcard to compete in the first Premier event of the Asian swing.
Former world number one Karolina Pliskova is the top seed at the tournament ahead of Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. The victory put Australia at the top of its group with France finishing second. It means France will face the Americans in the quarter-finals on Wednesday and Australia gets the Czechs.
In Tuesday’s quarter-finals, Argentina (5-0) faces Serbia (4-1), and Spain (5-0) plays Poland (4-1).
Both the United States and Argentina have also qualified for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Australia defeated the United States just over two weeks ago in an exhibition game in Melbourne to end a run of 78 straight wins by the US men.
At Shenzhen, Greece needed to win by 12 to have a chance of advancing. The Greeks did lead by that much early in the final quarter but could not hold the margin.
Nick Calathes scored 27 points to lead Greece, with 16 more coming from Kostas Sloukas. NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had 12 points and nine rebounds, but also fouled out on a disputed call.
His brother, Thanasis, was asked about the call. Giannis did not attend the
Joe Ingles of Australia looks to pass around Frank Ntilikina of France during their second round basketball game at the FIBA Basketball World Cup
in Nanjing in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on Sept 9. (AP)
final news conference.
Jaromir Nohacik scored 25 to lead the Czech Republic, while Patrik Auda and Tomas Satoransky added 13 each.
Czech Republic coach Ronen Ginzburg was asked about Satoransky’s prospects of a triple-double in an upcoming game.
“The thing Tomas is interested in isn’t the stats and everything. He wants to win the game,” Ginzburg said.
At Shenzhen, the United States led only 43-39 at the half, but then pulled away from Brazil (3-2).
Myles Turner and Kemba Walker each scored 16 for the Americans. Jaylen Brown added 11 and Harrison Barnes scored 10.
At Nanjing, Australia avoided facing the United States in the quarter-finals – though the Boomers might have welcomed the match-up.
Patty Mills of the San Antonio Spurs scored 30 points to lead Australia, and Joe Ingles scored 23. Aron Baynes added 21 for Australia’s three-man show.
At Nanjing, both Group L teams were already eliminated from reaching the quarter-finals. Lithuania (3-2) was led by Jonas Valanciunas and Lukas Lekavicius, each with 19 points. Valanciunas also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Rigoberto Mendoza scored 14 points to lead the Dominican Republic (2-3).
Montenegro (1-4) 80, Japan (0-5) 65; Jordan (1-4) 79, Senegal (0-5) 77; New Zealand (3-2) 102, Turkey (2-3) 101; Germany (3-2) 82, Canada (2-3) 76.