ADELAIDE: Eighth seeded Chinese player Wang Qiang
(pic) cruised into the second round of the Adelaide International with a straight sets win over Australian wildcard Olivia Gadecki on Monday.
The 18-year-old Gadecki was no match for former world number 12 Wang, who won 6-4, 6-3 in 81 minutes.
Wang will now meet either Kristina Mladenovic or Jil Teichmann in the last 16.
However, Zheng Saisai could not match her fellow countrywoman Wang, falling to American Danielle Collins 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
Former world number 11 Anastasija Sevastova was in superb touch against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to set up a clash with fourth seeded Belgian Elise Mertens.
Sevastova had lost 20 of her past 26 matches but took advantage of 32 unforced errors from her French opponent.
She said playing Garcia was good preparation for her clash with Mertens as they had a similar type of game.
“She’s (Mertens) an amazing ball-striker, she hits so flat and so fast, so I had a good practice now to be ready for that,” Sevastova said.
Collins’ countrywoman, Shelby Rogers, also progressed with a tough 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win over Russian Veronika Kudermetova. Rogers will play Britain’s Johanna Konta in the next round.
“I’ve just gained a little perspective,” Rogers said.
“I had knee surgery a couple of years ago, so I’m just really having fun, enjoying myself out here and being really thankful that we have a job and we can perform and do what we love,” he added.
“I’ve tried to change my mindset a little around that and believe in myself more.”
