Vinci ousts Rio gold medallist Puig in Wuhan Open

WUHAN: Roberta Vinci downed Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig in the first round of the Wuhan Open.

Italy’s Vinci took just one hour and 20 minutes to defeat the Puerto Rican in two sets, 6-3, 6-3.

Last year’s US Open finalist Vinci – who was responsible for halting Serena Williams’ bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam – served eight aces yesterday en route to the second round of the US$2.6mil (RM10mil) hard court event.

Puig had a fairy-tale run at the Rio Olympics clinching her island nation’s first ever gold medal – and taking her to a career high ranking of 33.

She then fell in the first round of the US Open, but made it to the quarter-finals in Tokyo last week, eventually ousted by world number four Agnieszka Radwanska. — AFP