France’s Lois Boisson survived a three-hour, 24-minute slugfest with Hungary’s Dalma Galfi on Thursday, advancing to the second round of the China Open in Beijing with a 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-2 win.
It was the second marathon match of the WTA 1000 tournament already, with Greece’s Maria Sakkari outlasting Ashlyn Krueger 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 in three hours and 29 minutes on Wednesday.
Boisson overcame a 4-3 deficit in the first set to force the tiebreak, where she fought off a set point. Galfi rallied from 3-1 down in the second set to force the decider, where she survived Boisson’s first three match points before succumbing.
Boisson saved nine of 12 break points and Galfi saved 11 of 15. Boisson struck six aces and advanced to face 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
In another tightly contested clash that lasted just over three hours, Colombia’s Camila Osorio outlasted Ann Li 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5. Osorio overcame 11 double faults, saved seven of 10 break points and weathered nine aces by Li to advance to face No. 28 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich also went the distance to defeat Indonesia’s Janice Tjen 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-1.
Advancing in straight sets were Germany’s Ella Seidel, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and Maya Joint, Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, Britain’s Sonay Kartal, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Colombia’s Emiliana Arango and China’s Xiyu Wang and Lin Zhu.
Wang said the excitement of playing on home soil outweighs the pressure.
“Of course there will be pressure during the matches, but I will do my best. I believe in my decisions on court, and hope to play as many matches as possible in Beijing and during the China swing,” she told reporters.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek is the No. 1 seed and will meet China’s Yuan Yue, who posted a 6-3, 6-3 win Thursday against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Defending champ Coco Gauff is the No. 2 seed and will open against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova, a 6-4, 6-1 winner Wednesday against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.
Rounding out the top five for the tournament are No. 3 Amanda Anisimova, No. 4 Mirra Andreeva of Russia and No. 5 Jessica Pegula.
American Taylor Townsend, ranked No. 2 in the world in doubles, pulled out of the event on Thursday, days after coming under fire for posting controversial remarks about Chinese food on social media.
–Field Level Media
