Czech Sara Bejlek edged No. 8 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania in a sloppy first set and went on to win 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Ningbo Open in China.
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.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals were Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 in a marathon that lasted just over three hours. Czech Marie Bouzkova beat Anastasia Zakharova of Russia 7-5, 6-2.
Japan Open
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.
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.
American Ashlyn Krueger needed 69 minutes to eliminate Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand 6-3, 6-1.
–Field Level Media
