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It was another long day at work for Beatriz Haddad Maia at the Hong Kong Open. The Brazilian, who’s seeded second this week, played for three hours and 30 minutes before eking out a win in her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Wednesday.
Haddad Maia’s now the highest seed remaining in the draw after the departure of former world no. 1 and top-seeded Victoria Azarenka on Tuesday. However, the 28-year-old needed two tie-breaks to get past her tenacious opponent.
At the end of it all, Haddad Maia prevailed 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(3). The final result came down to fine margins with the higher-ranked player finishing with just one more point to her rival’s 128. In the second set that Sasnovich won, Haddad Maia struggled a lot.
She failed to save both break points she faced and won just one of four points she put in on her second serve. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will be Haddad Maia’s next test especially considering that she scored a 6-0, 6-0 win in her round-of-32 face-off.
Hong Kong Open: Noteworthy start for teen, Alina Korneeva
Elise Mertens and Anna Blinkova were the two other seeds who won their matches. The Belgian, seeded third, won her round-of-32 clash against Australian qualifier Daria Saville.
Mertens needed just 82 minutes to push past Saville 6-1, 6-4. Mertens lost her serve once in the match but went four-on-four on the break points she generated on her opponent’s serve. The fifth-seeded Blinkova, meanwhile, advanced to the quarters courtesy of a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Saville’s compatriot, Priscilla Hon.
Blinkova needed just 65 minutes to get the better of Hon. She saved both break points she faced and converted four of five break points she faced. Blinkova also won 72% of her first-serve points. Lastly, the Hong Kong Open also proved to be quite a WTA debut for Alina Korneeva.
The 16-year-old who’s making a transition to the senior tour even as she holds the no. 1 ranking in juniors won her maiden match-up on the WTA tour after getting past Valeria Savinykh, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Korneeva’s playing in the main draw as a qualifier.
