By Chris Oddo | Tuesday September 29, 2015
Garbine Muguruza strengthened her Singapore bid on Tuesday in Wuhan, while Belinda Bencic and Caroline Wozniacki bowed out.
Photo Source: Kevin Lee/Getty
Caroline Wozniacki held a 6-1, 4-1 lead over Rising Star Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Tuesday night in Wuhan but could not maintain her momentum and ended up falling, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). The victory marks the first Top-10 win for 21-year-old Schmiedlova and it also does significant damage to Wozniacki’s Singapore hopes.
The Dane was in good position to pick up points this week in Wuhan, and she needed to do that. She entered the week 339 points out of 8th place in the RTS standings, with four other players between her and the 8th slot.
One of those players ahead of Wozniacki but still on the outside looking in is Garbine Muguruza. The Wimbledon runner-up did her part on Tuesday, racing past Sloane Stephens, 6-2, 6-0, and dropping only four first-serve points while saving both break points she faced. The Spaniard was completely dominant, dropping only THREE points in the second set, and will take momentum into the round of 16 where she’ll meet Ana Ivanovic with another 85 RTS points on the line.
Muguruza entered Wuhan at 11th on the RTS leaderboard but is only 32 points behind her doubles partner Carla Suarez Navarro for 8th place.
Currently in 7th place on the RTS leaderboard is Angelique Kerber. The German defeated Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to book her place in the round of 16, where she’ll face Camila Giorgi.
Giorgi advanced when 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic retired with a leg injury after dropping the first set, 6-2, to the Italian. Bencic’s retirement means she’ll give up an opportunity to rise on the RTS leaderboard—the Swiss is currently in 12th place but only 125 points out of the 8th spot.
Other race implications from Tuesday’s Wuhan action:
Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Monica Niculescu, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The 8th-place holder in the RTS standings won’t be able to add to her point total unless she can reach the semifinals in Wuhan, so there is much work to be done.
4th-place Petra Kvitova reached the round of 16 with a three-set win over Daria Gavrilova. Kvitova will face Roberta Vinci in the round of 16, and any points she earns from this round on will be added to her current total of 3378*.
Karolina Pliskova also put herself in a position to strengthen her bid on Monday by reaching the third round with a win over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. She’ll face Elina Svitolina in the round of 16.
17th-place Svitolina defeated Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets, but the Ukrainian will need many more wins to close the 610-point gap that currently separates her and 8th place.
Victoria Azarenka was forced to retire after dropping the first set to Johanna Konta in Wuhan. She remains more than 700 points back of the pace.
Madison Keys fell in three sets to Kristina Mladenovic and remains 589 points off of the pace.
Wuhan point totals:
Second round = 60
Round of 16 = 105
Quarterfinal = 190
Semifinal = 350
Final = 585
Title = 900