BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- 19-year-old Canadian star Bianca Andreescu got off to a winning start in the first round at China Open, taking down Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 here on Monday.
Playing her first match after a big win in the US Open, the world No.5 scored her 44th win of 2019 but struggled in the second set of the one-hour-and-fifty-three-minute match.
In the first set, Andreescu had an unpromising start, losing the first two games before she got into gear and secured the next two holding her opponent to love to pull-level at 2-all and never look back.
Sasnovich opened the second set by winning the first two games again but lost the advantage quickly. She then regained the lead and kept her hold to love till the end after breaking in the fifth game which lasted for eight minutes.
Andreescu fought back and dominated the third set, securing her position in the second round with a 6-1 win.
"I felt like in the second set I was too tense. She was playing really well," the teenaged Andreescu said after the match. "In the third set I just wanted to stay as positive as I could and just stay relaxed, continue going for my shots."
Up next is a repeat of her tough US Open quarterfinal battle against Elise Mertens.
"I'm going to go into it like I do every other match. I kind of have an idea of how she plays, she knows how I play now. I think it will be a tough battle no matter what," Andreescu said, add that she sees that as the toughest match of the tournament. She will be chasing her 16th win in a row.
Other action saw world No. 39 Ekaterina Alexandrova knock out sixth-seeded Simona Halep 6-2, 6-3, breaking the Wimbledon champion's serve six times in total and scoring her first Top 10 win of the season.
"I tried to stay concentrated and focused, and I'm happy I did that until the end," the unseeded Russian player said after the match.
