|
BEIJING, Sept. 29-- Seeded players met little surprise en route to women's singles second round of the China Open here on Sunday, with 14th-seeded host player Wang Qiang an exception pulling out due to calf cramp, and her fellow Chinese Zhang Shuai bowed out in full sets. Wang heated up quick into her opener against Ajla Tomljanovic to move ahead at 5-1, but her Australian opponent showed no concession to level the score at 5-all. Then Wang regrouped to take away the following two games for 7-5. Procession of the second set was similar, as Wang started in style for a 4-0 lead, before Tomljanovic bounced back and only trailed at 4-5 after the ninth game. Unable to hold on due to sudden cramp in her calf, Wang was forced to retire, sending Tomljanovic into the second round. Japanese ace Naomi Osaka overcame Jessica Pegula of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (5). Osaka, ranked world No. 4 and listed as the fourth seed, enjoyed a good start in the first set with more breaks than her opponent. In the next set, Osaka suffered 19 unforced errors but Pegula failed to convert her chance. Osaka won the tiebreak 7-5 after coming back from losing four consecutive points to seal the victory. "I was very nervous today. She kind of played much better in the second set. That was something that I had to get used to," commented Osaka. Recovering from a back problem forcing her to retire from the Wuhan Open, sixth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania whitewashed Sweden's Rebecca Peterson 6-1, 6-1. | 
