Adelaide International: Danielle Collins, Qiang Wang start off with wins

Danielle Collins began the final WTA event of the Australian swing with a success. The American won her first-round match against Saisai Zheng on Monday at the Adelaide International, 7-6(5), 6-1 in an hour and 41 minutes. 

This was Collins’ first win against the Chinese player in three matches. Zheng had beaten Collins with ease in their previous two matches. After the match, assessing her win Collins said, “She's a really challenging player to play against. She has a really versatile game and it can be tricky at times. I knew I had to be patient. I said to my team coming into this, you might have another long three-set match – so buckle up!”

Adelaide International: Winners move on with minimal fuss

Collins will play top-seed Ashleigh Barty in the second round. The top four seeds have been given first-round byes in the WTA 500 event.

Zheng’s fellow countrywoman, eighth seed Qiang Wang had better luck in her first-round match. Wang defeated Olivia Gadecki 6-4, 6-3 to advance in the draw. The 18-year-old Australian wildcard had stunned top-seed and world no. 4 Sofia Kenin in the second round of the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne last week. Gadecki made it all the way through to the pre-quarter-finals in Melbourne before crashing out of the tournament.

Wang will take on the winner between Jil Teichmann and Kristina Mladenovic in the second round in Adelaide.

Shelby Rogers set a second-round meeting with third seed Johanna Konta. The American defeated Veronika Kudermetova in their opening-round clash, 6-3, 7-6(4). Anastasia Sevastova will play fourth seed, Elise Mertens, in the second round of the Adelaide International after coming through her opener. The Latvian beat France’s Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-4.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3bIwfij