The Spanish Cristina Bucsa (n.79) advanced to the round of 16 of the China Open, winning the 4-6, 6-2 and 6-2 in Belgium Elise Mertens (n.29), who bid farewell to the Chinese tournament in the third round.
Bucsa, bronze medalist in women’s doubles with Sara Sorribes Tormo At the final Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he overcame a bad first set on the Brad Drewett secondary court at the Beijing tennis complex.
Despite losing the first set 4-6, during which the two players exchanged breaks, the Cantabrian adjusted his game and raised his level in the following rounds, on a day marked by the wind.
In the second set, Bucsa regained the initiative with an aggressive gameearning two breaks of serve and maintaining solid baseline defense.
With a 4-1 advantage, The Spaniard left nothing for Mertens’ reaction and sealed the set 6-2 with a strong final ‘break’.
The third and final set was a display of courage by Bucsa.
The Spaniard took a 2-0 lead after breaking Mertens’ serve at 40-0, but the Belgian tied the score at 2-2 after Bucsa failed to capitalize on four break points.
However, Bucsa responded strongly, earning a new break to go up 4-2 and later saving two break points in the next game, consolidating her lead to close out the set 6-2.
The Czech will face the Spanish in the round of 16 Karolina Muchova (n.49), who beat the Romanians in their match on Monday Jaqueline Christian (n.80) of 6-1 and 6-3.
Bucsa so join the Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauffin addition to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenkain the round of 16, with other seeds such as Italian Jasmine Paolini and china Zheng Qinwen hoping to reach the next stage of the tournament today.
The current champion and world number one, the Polish Iga Swiatekis not participating in this year’s edition of the tournament.
Linette, on the fast track
For its part, the Polish Magda Linette the third seed, the Italian, certainly surprised Jasmine Paoliniin two sets (6-4 and 6-0). With this victory against the number 5 in the WTA ranking, the Pole advanced to the round of 16 of the China Open.
The Polish tennis player will face the winner of the duel between the 17-year-old Russian girl in the round of 16 Mirra Andreeva (n.24), trained by Conchita Martínez, and the Croatian Donna Vekic (n. 20).
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
