2023-04-20 22:22:00
Polish Iga Schwyntek, ranked first in the world, made a successful return to the competition after an absence of nearly 45 days, and on Thursday began the campaign to defend its title in the German Stuttgart tournament, defeating China’s Shenwen Zhang 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
Chivontec, 21, has been sidelined since her exit from the semi-finals of the Indian Wells 1000 tournament due to a rib injury and was unable to defend her title in Miami.
Like the top four seeds, she was eliminated in the first round in Stuttgart before finishing her match against Jing in less than 90 minutes.
“I felt like I needed to focus 100% from start to finish, to think about technique and tactics,” she said after the win. “I am very happy because I am not rigid and can play well, even though I have been out for a while.”
Next, she will meet Czech Karolina Plishkova, who defeated Croatian Donna Vekic with difficulty 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5).
Spain’s Paula Badusa qualified for the quarter-finals by defeating compatriot Christina Buxa 6-1, 6-2, to set a date with her close friend, Belarusian Arena Sabalenka, holder of the Australian Open title and ranked second in the world.
American Coco Gough, ranked sixth in the world, fell to Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-3, who will face French Caroline Garcia, who defeated German Tatiana Maria 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maya qualified at the expense of Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, the Australian Open runner-up and Indian Wells champion, after the latter withdrew from the match due to injury when she was behind 6-1, 3-1.
The Brazilian will next meet Tunisian Anas Jaber, who won on Wednesday over Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
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