Strycova gets easy win in Muguruza's retirement at China Open

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Garbine Muguruza threw in the towel suddenly at the China Open Monday night. The world number one had very little to show in the opening set against Barbora Strycova

 who took it and won in a 6-1, 2-0 match that gave the Czech a spot in the second round. Muguruza’s retirement made her 4-3 as the top ranked player where her condition was well below what she felt was capable of her playing on

This was a sixth meeting between the two and the third this season alone with both winning each. The Spaniard held the overall lead over the Czech but the opportunity of tying the series was in Strycova’s hands going into the new tournament. Muguruza had a tough time in Wuhan with an apparent muscle strain while reaching the quarterfinal in Wuhan last week. Strycova went out earlier in her three set defeat by Jelena Ostapenko, but with more rest than the world number one, her chances to upset Muguruza were possible.  

The Czech took the first two games holding off Muguruza who wasn’t yet up to speed. Each game saw her down two points which was enough room for Strycova to contain the victory for herself. The Spaniard managed to get one on her serve but it was back to business for Strycova who conducted a sizable lead with unforced errors racking up for the world number one. It was quickly a 4-1 rout which led to her chatting With Sam Sumyk to analyze what could be fixed to get her back into the set.

She still showed very little movement than what is normally seen of her indicating the swift pace Strycova carried. Muguruza’s attempts to stay alive in the set went awry as she handed the Czech triple set point by then smashing a shot into the net that finished in 27 minutes. While Strycova floated 11 of 13 on the first serve, the world number one under performed with just 5 of 17 and committed 16 unforced errors.

The second didn’t go any better for her as Strycova laid down a shot she didn’t put much interest returning. The next was a pop fly return back and a slow rally indicating very little effort or that something was bothering her. After a second win to Strycova the trainer was called on court for the number one seed in which she expressed her feeling very under the weather which brought an official end to the match and a pass for Strycova into the second round.

Strycova’s eight wins in the match led her to maintain enough energy to prepare for her second round where she’ll face Julia Goerges going forward.

Niculescu eases into second round at China Open

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Johanna Konta found herself out of another tournament swiftly Sunday night. The sixth seed continued to suffer in her game that handed Monica Niculescu a breeze through her own to win at the China Open 6-1, 6-2 on Center Court at the National Tennis Center in Beijing

It’s been over a year since they last met in Miami where the Brit evened the series with a strong showing in straight sets over the Romanian. The tail end of the season hasn’t been kind to the world number seven who continues to slide in matches with four consecutive losses. The recent loss to Ashleigh Barty last week didn’t help her confidence going into Beijing but would put everything to make something happen.

She didn’t have the power to start as Niculescu opened serve with a strengthened victory that was just the start. She added four more along the way that completely ravaged the number one Brit into possibly submitting in the opening set. Just when it looked like a shutout was emerging for the Romanian, Konta managed to etch out a victory to her name that extended the life of the first. It was short lived, as Niculescu finished off the seventh game with a hold that closed things out in 29 minutes.

The second didn’t go any better for her despite being able to hold serve against Niculescu. From there on it was the Romanian easily dictating her way to victory once again. A final fight from Konta produced a second game winner but the inevitable conclusion arrived with the quick momentum as the 30-year-old coasted to victory over the Brit that finished off her opening round in 64 minutes. While she had a first serve percentage at 86 percent, the second serve didn’t serve to be a problem for her as Konta only returned 7 of 38 in the match.

While the number one British star continues to try and figure her issues out, Niculescu would await the winner between Peng Shuai and Shelby Rogers in the second round.  

Svitolina maintains straight sets win at China Open

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Elina Svitolina had a good challenge in her return to action in the WTA tour Sunday night. The world number three kept calm and collected in her match against Lin Zhu to win 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the China Open.  

The two met last year at Kuala Lumpur where the Ukrainian beat the Chinese star before going on to win her fourth WTA title. With five more under her belt already this season. The 23-year-old hoped that with time off since her fourth-round appearance at the US Open, she could get back into gear in her first tournament in China.

Svitolina’s first shot was an ace to the left followed by some good points to win it. Nerves were difficult along the way for both players but as they concluded their serves, it spelled out a pace they would carry for a time. For the Chinese star, her attempt for a love service fell apart forcing deuce with Svitolina. She managed to hold but doing so against the third seed also proved difficult. The third game went seven minutes and four breaks before Zhu lost a grip handing the Ukrainian a hold.

She got into a groove that produced a break on Zhu which consolidated the service hold thereafter. Zhu cut the score margin in half before fighting Svitolina on deuce in the third in an attempt to get within reach. Two breaks elapsed but the Ukrainian held earning a shot at closing the set with a break of Zhu.

The Chinese star held her ground in the eighth but faced tremendous skills from the world number three who had great court positioning, ball placement and speed to close out the set in 40 minutes. Svitolina got plenty of her points against the second serve of Zhu that won on 3 of 11 shots and 4 of 19 on the returns. With those being her weak points, the 23-year-old knew she had to get something to better into the second.

Zhu led the way in the set holding serve each time she had the ball until the fourth when Svitolina had troubles with the serve. The edge sat with Zhu for a time tugging for the AD point three times but couldn’t string enough points together. She paid the price on serve in the fifth as Svitolina attacked her game to get the break and lead forward.

The gap widened to a pair of games for the Ukrainian who was in total control adding another break to the score. She served for the match in the eighth where it took deuce to get it done with some errors along the way. She minimized the time on the break to keep it short and win it on a forced error from Zhu ending things in 75 minutes. The third seed maintained a serve near 80 percent with 19 winners and three of four points won on the break. With an overall good performance and warmed up to fight on, she’d have to do so Tuesday against Wuhan finalist Ashleigh Barty in the second round.