China’s Yue Yuan, ranked No. 135 in the world, upset 47th-ranked Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday in the first round of the 1000-level China Open in Beijing.
Yuan, who had not won a main-draw match since early August at the Warsaw Open, saved all three break points against Oliynykova and won 6-of-10. The lanky 28-year-old won 58.1% of her return points in the match.
Yuan led the second set, 4-3, then won a marathon 16-point eighth game and prevailed in 91 minutes. She will face reigning French Open champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the round-of-64 on Friday.
Another player who struggled over the summer, Great Britain’s Katie Boulter breezed past qualifier Mai Hontama of Japan, 6-3, 6-4.
Boulter entered the tournament having lost seven of her last nine matches, including a resounding 6-1, 6-0 loss to Czech No. 7 Karolina Muchova at the U.S. Open.
Despite throwing in six double faults, Boulter staved off six of eight break points and capitalized on five of eight similar chances on Hontama’s serve to advance.
“It feels so nice to be welcomed in China, in Beijing,” said Boulter. “I have an amazing time here. You guys are an incredible support, so I really appreciate it. So yeah, xiexie (thank you).”
Boulter’s next opponent will be Muchova on Friday.
Other players advancing on Wednesday were Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, Poland’s Magdalena Frech, Australia’s Taylah Preston and Maddison Inglis, Czechia’s Linda Fruhvirtova, Russia’s Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, Ukraine’s Daria Snigur and Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova.
Frech needed two hours, 43 minutes to oust France’s Elsa Jaquemont, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
First-round matches will conclude on Thursday before the round-of-64 will begin.
Third-seeded Coco Gauff will not begin play until Saturday, but, like Boulter enjoys the experience of competing in China.
“Playing here in China is such a unique experience because I feel in Asia, there’s so much history here in China, so much culture here. Especially being from the U.S. — I think obviously we’re old — but China’s a really old country,” said Gauff. “I think it’s really cool to experience things like going to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, feeling the history there. I’m someone who enjoys learning about that.”
–Field Level Media
