Zhang Shuai triumphs on home soil
SHANGHAI: China’s Zhang Shuai battled to her second career title with a gutsy three-set victory in the final of the Guangzhou International.
The second seed defeated unseeded Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in nearly two hours on the hard courts in southern China, to the delight of the home crowd.
Zhang Shuai, the world No. 30, held her arms aloft and dropped to her knees after sealing the title with an ace, recapturing the crown she won in 2013.
The 24-year-old Krunic was contesting the first WTA final of her career and displayed her nerves in making 11 unforced errors in the first set to hand the initiative to Zhang Shuai.
But Krunic found her groove in the second set and the more experienced Zhang Shuai, 28, began to falter.
Krunic, ranked 65 in the world, reeled off three games without reply to level the match at one set each.
She went into the decider with the momentum, but seemed to surrender that when she needed a medical time-out for a shoulder problem and there was also an enforced heat break.
Zhang Shuai decisively swung the match back in her favour when she broke her opponent for the sixth time.
■ SEOUL: Top seed Jelena Ostapenko powered her way into the Seoul Open final yesterday after a tight three-set battle with Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum.
The 20-year-old French Open champion from Latvia beat Luksika KumKhum, who had earlier upset the fourth seed Sorana Cirstea, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in 110 minutes.
The 24-year-old Thai stunned the world No. 10 by winning the opening set 6-3 before Ostapenko won the following two sets to reach her third final of the 2017 season.
Ostapenko is a favourite to win the title after her surprise upset win over third-seed Simona Halep at the French Open in June.
Ostapenko will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, who sailed into the final after defeating Richel Hogenkamp of Holland 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) in the other semi-final. — AFP