In a thrilling opening match at the China Open in Beijing, wildcard entrant Yuan Yue celebrated her 27th birthday with a statement win over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-3. The victory ended a four-match losing streak in singles and lit up the home crowd.
Yuan set the tone early, saving two break points in the second game and breaking Putintseva twice – once in the fifth game and again in the ninth – to take the first set. Despite trailing 0-40 in the fifth game of the second set, she held serve before capitalising on mounting errors from her opponent to secure the crucial break in the eighth game.
With momentum on her side, Yuan heads into round two where she will face top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland. It is a tough challenge, but this birthday breakthrough could be the spark she needs to make a deeper run on home soil.
Match highlights:
- First-round win: 6-3, 6-3
- Saved two break points early
- Snapped a four-match singles losing streak
- Next opponent: World No. 1 Iga Swiatek
Reference(s):
Yuan Yue celebrates 27th birthday by beating Putintseva at China Open
cgtn.com