Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki recovered from an opening-set loss and a 3-0 deficit in the third set en route to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Shelby Rogers on Thursday. It was her opening-round match at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Trailing 3-0 in the final set, the No. 3 seed Wozniacki captured 30 of the final 37 points to avoid the upset and reach the last eight in Tokyo for the sixth straight year. With her victory over Rogers, Wozniacki also became the first woman to reach the 50th-match win plateau in 2017. Wozniacki will take on fifth seed Dominika Cibulkova, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Katerina Siniakova.
Barbora Strycova also reached the quarterfinal after beating fourth seed Johanna Konta, 7-5, 7-6 (5). It was the first top 10 win for Strycova in 2017. After the match, Strycova heaped praises on Konta during her post-win interview, according to WTA.com, saying her opponent was tough to play and she had to work for every point. Strycova will next face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Qiang Wang. Ninth seed Caroline Garcia cruised to a straight-set win over Kurumi Nara ton her way to a clash with World No. 1 and top see Garbine Muguruza.
Shuang Zhang makes it to Guangzhou semifinals
Second seed and 2013 champion Shuai Zhang reached the semifinals of the Guangzhou Open on Thursday via a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kateryna Kozlova.
Zhang needed just 62 minutes to send Kozlova packing and seal a semi-final clash with Russian Evgeniya Rodina, a two-set winner over 19-year-old Australian qualifier Lizette Cabrera. Meanwhile, Yanina Wickmayer defeated sixth seed Alize Cornet in two sets to advance against No. 67 Aleksandra Krunic, who cruised past Rebecca Peterson in just 65 minutes.
Ostapenko coasts into quarterfinals in South Korea
In South Korea, top seed and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko made it to the quarterfinals of the KEB Hana Bank-Incheon Airport Korea Open after eliminating Nao Hibino of Japan, 6-2, 6-2. Ostapenko, who recently made it to the WTA Top 10, used her powerful groundstrokes to make quick work of Hibino in just 79 minutes of play.
With the win, the 20-year-old Ostapenko reached her seventh quarterfinal appearance of the season where she will collide with Veronica Cepede Royg, a three-set winner over Kristie Ahn. Fourth seed Sorana Cirstea also reached the next round after a straight-set triumph over Nicole Gibbs. Cirstea will next take on Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand.
