|
BEIJING, Oct. 5-- The quarterfinals of the ongoing China Open saw one home favorite advancing, another crashing out, and all current top-10 players winning their matches with ease. The day started with world No. 8 Naomi Osaka coming back from a set down to knock out China's Zhang Shuai: 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Osaka got off to another slow start on serve committing several unforced errors to help her opponent break her twice out of the gate. Osaka continued spitting out unforced errors throughout the first, and despite getting a break of her own, could not keep up with Zhang's versatile cross-court forehand strokes. Osaka turned it around in the second, shooting 22 winners, mostly cross-court forehanders that left Zhang powerless to reply. The third set saw Zhang have the chance to seal the deal, serving for the match after the two traded breaks to go 5-4. But a series of unforced errors could not have come at a worse time for Zhang, who suffered four double faults in the decider. Osaka went on to break Zhang to level at 5-all as her backhand began to really find its mark. A series of solid groundstrokes saw Osaka pull ahead decisively and book place in the semis after a two hour, 34 minutes marathon match. Osaka's tendency to be too aggressive at the baseline worked to Zhang's benefit throughout the match. She coughed up 66 unforced errors, but managed to fire off 51 winners. | 
