China's Wang Qiang advances to round of 16 at China Open

Chinese wildcard Wang Qiang registered a 6-0, 6-0 victory over an injured world No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko to advance to the third round of the ongoing China Open here on Tuesday.

Wang won a stellar 83 percent of her first service points, converted six of her seven break points and fired three aces on the way to the victory.

Her Latvian opponent had a very rough time on court today, coughing up 34 unforced errors and committing 10 double faults. Wang broke every single one of her service games and never faced break point herself, reports Xinhua news agency.

Wang noted that she is still not completely recovered from the thigh injury that saw her retire from her semifinal match at the Wuhan Open, but says her opponent's issues with injury meant that the match today was hers for the taking.

"I think it was a gift from her. She gave them to me," Wang explained. "I did not do anything exceptional. She just gave too many errors, double-faults. I think she is struggling with injuries, too."

Ostapenko indeed cited a wrist injury as the reason for her loss, but says that retiring was never an option for her.

"I really couldn't play my game today because of [my] wrist," Ostapenko said. "I thought maybe during the match, when I get warm, it will be better. I was trying to play until the last point because I really don't like those retirements during the match."

Wang will have a day to recoup before facing the winner of tomorrow's match between No. 7 Karolina Pliskova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

--IANS

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