Qiang Wang won an all-Asian first round match at Wimbledon, defeating Kai-Chen Chang 6-3, 6-4, setting up a date with 10th seed Venus Williams in round two.
Opportunistic Wang takes opening set
Both players held to begin the match and the first chance to break fell to the 111th-ranked Chang, a break point in the third game, but some clutch play got Wang out of trouble.
The bypassed opportunity would prove costly as the Chinese broke in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, the break coming on a forehand error from Chang. After wasting another chance to break, a deflated Chang surrendered her serve to love and Wang was in full command of the set with a 5-1 lead
Chang did have a response, even if was too late to rescue the set. A break and a hold brought her to within 5-3, but with a second opportunity to serve out the opening set, she held comfortably to 15, a fine serve setting up a backhand that her 111th-ranked opponent was unable to get back.
Steady Chinese closes out victory
The second set saw both players hold comfortably through the first four games. Chang dug herself out of a 0-40 hole and had a break point in the next game, but as was the theme of the match, she let the chance slip through her fingers.
Again, the chances not taken proved to be costly for the world number 111 as she was broken to love in the ninth game, a forehand error her undoing at 0-40. Now serving for the match, Wang again stared down a break point, but another Chang forehand error saved the Chinese's skin. Two points later, she wrapped up the match, her own forehand winner set up by a big serve.
By the numbers
Wang was able to convert on three of her eight break point chances while Chang only took one of her six opportunities. Additionally, she committed 34 unforced errors as compared to 10 for Wang while her first serve percentage was a dismal 48% as Wang fared much better at 67%.