A Czech player named Sara Bejlek defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania in a closely fought match.Bejlek won the first set 7-6 (3) and then took the second set 6-4 to move on to the quarterfinals of the Ningbo Open in China.The match was relatively slow-paced, with Bejlek eventually securing her place in the next round after a long match lasting over an hour and 55 minutes.
Diana Shnaider, the No.
6 seed, advanced to the quarterfinals for the third time in four appearances at the BNB Ningbo Open.She beat Alexandra Eala with a score of 7-5, 6-4.Shnaider clinched the victory on her seventh match point.The match lasted 1 hour and 55 minutes.
Among the top-ranked left-handed players on the WTA Tour are Maja Chwalinska, who recently won the Wuhan championship.
leads the way at No. 11, followed by Shnaider at No. 13 and then Eala at No. 20. While left-handers often enjoy an advantage against many right-handed players, Shnaider revealed that on the relatively rare occasions that they play each other, it’s still a tricky matchup.
Shnaider defeated Eala in two straight sets and moved on to the Osaka quarterfinals.
“Shnaider said in her on-court interview, “You expect the slice serve into the body, definitely a little more variation and a different type of ball strike.”
She added, “You just gotta get used to the ball — I guess the first few games you just get used to the spin, where are her strengths, what is her weakness.
You just gotta give yourself a little more time to adjust, then it becomes a bit easier as the games go on.”
So far, Shnaider has proved more adept at adjusting to her fellow left-handers — Thursday’s result improved her tour-level record in such matches to 11-9, while Eala dropped to 1-4.
It wasn’t a very long day for fans in Osaka, with four matches decided in straight sets.
All four winners advanced to the quarterfinals.
The longest match of the day lasted one hour and 47 minutes as Lilli Tagger of Austria defeated Czech Tereza Valentova 7-5, 6-3. Tagger struck five aces and won 85% (29 of 34) of her first-serve points, while Valentova was betrayed by her serve with eight double faults.
Boulter, Gibson Cruise to Osaka Quarters; Kostyuk Retires Hurt
Also advancing were No. 8 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain, who defeated Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-1 in just 58 minutes. No. 4 Talia Gibson of Australia topped Sinja Kraus of Austria 6-2, 6-1 in 72 minutes.
The opener featured two breaks on each side and four double faults by Cirstea, who lost the set despite finishing with more total points (57-55). Cirstea had just 16 winners compared to 27 unforced errors in the set. No. 3 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine retired in her match against Ekaterina Alexandrova after the Russian won the first set 6-4. Kostyuk called a medical timeout near the end of the set for an apparent wrist injury.
