First seed Agnieszka Radwanska and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova both confirmed the odds by winning respectively their first and second round match at 2016 Tianjin Open, last WTA tournament - along with Hong Kong - of the Asian Swing. Radwanska, who is defending her title in Tianjin right after her victory at the China Open, will come back on court again tomorrow, meeting Evgeniya Rodina for a place into the last eight.
Radwanska easily past her opening match
In the only remaining first round match, first seed Agnieszka Radwanska easily booked her victory on Centre Court, defeating Germany’s Tatjana Maria after an hour of play. Quickly 5-0 up in the first set, the Pole successfully served it out and closed it with a 6-1 score line. The second set followed a similar pattern, with the German losing her serve twice and gaining her only chance to break while Radwanska was serving for the match, after saving three match points in a row. The Pole didn’t fail to close it out in the end, starting her run as defending champion with a clear 6-1, 6-2 win.
Osaka and Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals
The only other seed on court today, Svetlana Kuznetsova battled past Donna Vekic to reach her seventh quarterfinal of the year. After conquering a close first set with a crucial break (despite being broken the first time she was serving for the set), the Russian veteran lost an early lead in the second. Once again, the Croatian couldn’t hold her serve at the end of the set, and wasted two important break points while Kuznetsova was serving for the match. The Russian earned the victory with a 7-5, 6-4 score and will now meet Naomi Osaka in the next round.
The 18-year-old Japanese, who had defeated eighth seed Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round, booked another straight set victory against qualifier Lucie Hradecka. Osaka didn’t find a real struggle in the opening set, never risking to drop her serve as she closed it with a 6-2 score. The second set went on as more balanced; after a quick exchange of breaks at the very beginning of the set, both players managed to hold their serve until the end. A battled tie-break eventually saw the Japanese prevail 7 points to 4, granting her the pass to the fourth WTA quarterfinal of her career.
Kovinic and Han also between the last eight
On Court 1, last year’s finalist Danka Kovinic also reached the quarterfinals, coming back from one set down against qualifier Shelby Rogers (who had previously defeated third seed Elena Vesnina), with a final 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 score line. She will meet the winner between Lara Arruabarrena and fifth seed Monica Puig in the quarterfinals. Han Xinyun defeated wildcard Wang Yafan (previously winner over sixth seed Yulia Putintseva) in straight sets, with a final score of 6-3, 7-5. She will await the winner of the match between Magda Linette and Alison Riske in a fight for a spot in the last four.