Rising star Wang admits ‘surprise’ at surge in form
Third-seeded Dimitrov crashes out of China Open
China’s rising star Wang Qiang is enjoying the hottest streak of her career but admits that she has surprised herself with her swashbuckling form.
The 26-year-old is even being touted as a potential successor to double Grand Slam champion and China tennis icon Li Na, who retired in 2014. Wang demolished an injury-hindered Jelena Ostapenko, the former French Open champion, 6-0, 6-0 to surge into round three of the China Open.
On the back of a momentous three months, Wang is now China’s highest-ranking player at 28th in the world and chasing more WTA titles to go with the two she picked up in July and September.
“Now I’m doing well and this is kind of a surprise for all of us,” she admitted after seeing off Ostapenko in double-quick time in front of a delighted Beijing crowd. “I believe at this stage when I’m relaxed, I can do better.
“I do not want to focus on ranking or victories, I just want to be relaxed and enjoy the matches here.”
Wang won her first WTA Tour 250 title at the Jiangxi Open at Nanchang in July, then her second last month at the Guangzhou Open.
Wang’s next opponent will be the seventh seed Karolina Pliskova, who advanced to the third round for the third consecutive year with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov crashed out of the China Open, beaten 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 by Dusan Lajovic in the second round yesterday.
In Japan, former champion Nick Kyrgios flickered into life for just long enough to dispatch wild card Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 7-6 in the first round of the Japan Open.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson survived a scare against Kyrgios’s fellow Australian Matthew Ebden, winning in three sets to avoid the same fate as top seed Marin Cilic, who flopped at the first hurdle in Tokyo a day earlier.