Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart both opened with wins in China and Japan respectively to reach the Last 16…
China | WTA 500 Ningbo Open
British No 1 Katie Boulter scored an emphatic win over veteran Sara Errani, an Italian qualifier, 6-3 6-2, in a 1st-round match disrupted by heavy rain.
28-year old Boulter came out with the score level at 2-2 following a prolonged stoppage, and kicked on to dominate the opening set, before breaking her Italian opponent early in the second, and consolidating with a hold to move into a commanding 3-0 lead.
A second break helped Boulter forge ahead to 4-0, and although she was broken when serving for the set at 5-1, she broke straight back to wrap up the match in 73 minutes.
Boulter next will face 28-year-old Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 5th seed, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Two of the top 3 seeds in Ningbo have withdrawn from the tournament, namely Italy’s Jasmine Paolini with a left foot injury, and the USA’s Emma Navarro due to illness, so Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, the 5th seed has moved into the latter’s slot in the draw, where she will play the Czech, Katerina Siniakova, in the 2nd-round on Wednesday.
Siniakova, the current World Doubles No 1, advanced with a 6-2 6-4 win over Poland’s Magda Linette.
No 7 seed Anna Kalinskaya from Russia improved to 3-0 overall against Australia’s lucky loser Priscilla Hon, coming from 1-4 down in the third set to win, 3-6 6-3 6-4.
In a 1st-round encounter between two Chinese, lucky loser Ma Ye-Xin, who was a last-minute replacement for Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the draw, made the most of her second chance by beating qualifier You Xiaodi, 6-2 6-2, to record her first tour-level match win.
Finally, Ella Seidel from Germany defeated Lichtenstein’s Kalhinka Von Deichman, 6-3 6-1, in a contest between 2 lucky losers.
© Shi Tang/Getty Images
Japan | WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open
Boulter’s British compatriot Harriet Dart also was successful in her opener, coming from behind to beat German qualifier Laura Siegemund, 3-6 7-5 7-5, and reach the Last 16 in Osaka.
Dart needed exactly 3 hours to fend off Siegemund, coming back from a set and a break down to pick up her first singles win since the 1st-round of the US Open.
Having lost the first set, Dart showed heart and composure to win a tight second set, before she went on to clinch the decider by the same score.
For a place in the Last 8, Dart will face Denmark’s Clara Tauson next, who knocked the 28-year-old Brit out in the 1st-round of the China Open 3 weeks ago.
No 3 seed Elise Mertens dropped just 2 games against Japan’s Mai Hontama, a wild-card, 6-1 6-1, in 61 minutes, and the Belgian now takes on Australian lucky loser Kimberly Birrell, who beat China’s Zheng Saisai, 6-2 6-3.
Czech 4th seed Marie Bouzkova took 2 hours and 45 minutes to overcome home hope Moyuka Uchijima, 7-6(6) 2-6 6-3, and will face Ana Bogdan, in the 2nd-round, after the Romanian qualifier dispatched Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, 6-2 6-2.
There was disappointment for Canadian Bianca Andreescu, though, who suffered her 5th consecutive loss at the hands of Belgian Greet Minnen, 6-3 6-0.
In 2019, the Canadian looked like the best player in the world, winning Indian Wells, and Toronto, ahead of lifting the US Open trophy, her only major title.
In the following years, though, a series of injuries kept Andreescu off the tour, including left knee, right foot, right shoulder, and left ankle issues.
Currently ranked 163 in the world, Andreescu started well against Minnen, breaking in the 5th game of the opening set, but was immediately broken in the next game, falling 2-4 behind.
Minnen, ranked 95, moved ahead 5-2, and although Andreescu held, the Belgian pocketed the set and did not drop another game.
She moves into round 2 where she will meet Diane Parry, the French 7th seed, who battled past Russia’s Erika Andreeva, the older sister of Mirra, 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1.
Coming from a set down, it was Parry’s first win against Erika in 4 meetings.
On her WTA debut, Japan’s Sara Saito, the 18-year-old former junior No 2, notched up her first Top 100 win with a straight-sets defeat of Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-3 6-2, and will face 5th seed Elina Avanesyan of Armenia, who defeated defending champion Ashlyn Krueger from the USA, 7-6(1) 6-3.
