Venus Ousted in China Open First Round
Kerber, Radwanska Advance
American Venus Williams was eliminated in the first round of the China Open on Monday, as Chinese wild card Peng Shuai cruised to a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the sixth-seed.
Shuai produced a late break in the opening set, and would then break Venus twice in the second set while saving the only break point she faced to pull off the upset in one hour and 26 minutes.
The 30-year old Shuai moves into a second-round matchup with France’s Caroline Garcia, who came back from a set down to beat Julia Goerges 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
World number one Angelique Kerber bounced back from her loss to Petra Kvitova in Wuhan by rolling past Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-4 to book her spot in the second round. She plays Barbora Strycova next.
Last year’s champion, second-seed Garbine Muguruza, advanced into the third round with a tight 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Yulia Putintseva.
“I’m very happy I could close the match in the tiebreak because obviously it was getting tougher and tougher,” said Muguruza. “Tiebreaks are moments where it’s delicate. You feel a bit more nervous and more tense.”
The French Open champion awaits the winner of 14th seed Petra Kvitova and Yafan Wang.
American Madison Keys pushed through into the third round with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Kristina Mladenovic , and will play the winner of Misaki Doi and ninth-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Third-seed Agnieszka Radwanska cruised past Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the third-round, and Yaroslava Shvedova upset Belinda Bencic 6-4, 7-6(4) to reach the third round.
