British No 2 Harriet Dart fell to Clara Tauson for the second time in 3 weeks in Osaka, while lucky losers take over in China…
The player I admire is Hsieh Su-Wei. Even though I’m skinny, I can beat foreign players. I’m aiming to play tennis like Hsieh, and I’m trying to become unique. I don’t have any power, so I try to compete by technique,” she added. “By slicing, by drop-shots, by figuring out how to beat power. Aoi Ito
China | WTA 500 Ningbo Open
The withdrawal of 7 players has turned the Ningbo Open into a WTA 500 event with more lucky losers than qualifiers, prompting Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva attempt to fly back to secure an astonishing opportunity. She was unsuccessful.
With a 28-player draw, by Wednesday, 25% of the field was represented by lucky losers, surpassing the 6 qualifiers that had earlier made their way through.
The likes of Jasmine Paolini and Emma Navarro had previously pulled out of the tournament, before home favourite Zheng Qinwen became the 7th competitor to withdraw following her semi-final and runner-up showings at Beijing and Wuhan.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova is the highest seed left in the draw at No 4 but has yet to play a match, while 5th-seeded Daria Kasatkina rallied past the Czech’s former doubles partner, Katerina Siniakova, 1-6 6-3 6-2, to set up a quarter-final clash with Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Putintseva defeated German lucky loser Ella Seidel, 6-4 6-4, to reach her 6th quarter-final of 2024, and her 3rd at WTA 500 level or above.
After rain delays, the 1st-round of matches finally was completed, with Czech Karolina Muchova opening her campaign with a 6-3 7-5 win over qualifier Olivia Gadecki from Australia, coming from 1-3 down in the second set, and sealing her second match point in a 7-deuce final game.
Muchova should then have lined up against 2nd-seeded Zheng, but instead she faces lucky loser, Jaqueline Cristian from Romania, who received a bye into round 2.
Also into the 2nd-round is China’s Yuan Yue, who needed 2 days to defeat qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic from Australia, 6-4 6-2, in a match that was delayed overnight following completion of the first set.
For a spot in the quarters, Yuan plays Russian Anna Kalinskaya, the 7th seed, who was a 3-6 6-3 6-4 winner over Aussie qualifier Priscilla Hon.
No 8 seed Paula Badosa improved to 2-1 against China’s Wang Xiyu after defeating the wild-card, 6-7(4) 6-1 6-2, to advance to her 6th Last 8 appearance of 2024.
The Spaniard will face either 6th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil or British No 1 Katie Boulter in the quarter-finals who play on Thursday.
Russia’s Mirra Andreeva came from 1-3 down in the second set to get past lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch from Germany, 6-0 6-4.
The 17-year old scored her 3rd win over Korpatsch in 3 meetings, and advances to her 8th quarter-final of the season.
Clara Tauson beat Harriet Dart for the second time in 3 weeks to advance to round 2 in Osaka
WTAtennis.com
Osaka | WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open
Denmark’s Clara Tauson notched her second defeat of British No 3 Harriet Dart in a 3-week span on Wednesday, posting a 6-3 6-2 win in the 2nd-round on Wednesday at the Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka.
This was the Dane’s 6th win in her last 7 matches on tour, having also reached the final of the WTA 125K event in Hong Kong earlier this month.
The 21-year old Dane, ranked 63, next will face the winner of the match between Frenchwoman Diane Parry, the No 7 seed, and Belgian Greet Minnen.
Aoi Ito, a 20-year-old Japanese qualifier, has delivered two impressive upsets to book her place in her first tour-level quarter-final, overturning a 2-5 third-set deficit to stun former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin from the USA, and backing that up with a 6-4 6-3 win over Italy’s No 8 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the first Top 50 victory of her career.
Ito is now on a 9-match winning streak, following her ITF W50 title in Nanao 3 weeks ago.
Her game is an unorthodox mix of nonchalant forehand slices, sneak net attacks with changes of speed and direction that catch her opponents off guard.
Against Kenin, she chipped forehands deep in the court then, without warning and using the same motion, pulled off a drop-shot winner.
Cocciaretto’s frustration at getting tied up in Ito’s web of spins was visible throughout the match.
“The player I admire is Hsieh Su-Wei,” Ito said. “Even though I’m skinny, I can beat foreign players. I’m aiming to play tennis like Hsieh, and I’m trying to become unique.
“I don’t have any power, so I try to compete by technique,” she added. “By slicing, by drop-shots, by figuring out how to beat power.”
Ito advances to meet Ella Lys, a fellow qualifier from Germany, who battled past American McCartney Kessler, 7-6(7) 3-6 7-5.
Lys was twice down a break in the third set before sealing the 2-hour and 40-minute win.
Dutch qualifier Suzan Lamens ousted Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, 6-3 6-4, to advance to her 2nd career tour-level quarter-final, having already reached the Last 8 in Budapest earlier this year.
20-year-old qualifier Aoi Ito has upset both Sofia Kenin and Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach her first WTA quarter-final in Osaka
WTAtennis.com
