Defending champion Garcia advances in China Open

French player and defending champion Caroline Garcia on Sunday defeated Wang Yafan of China in an intense first round women's singles battle of the China Open tennis meet.

Yafan was defeated by Garcia 6-7 (10), 7-6(4), 3-6 in a gruelling match that lasted more than three hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

Though Wang squandered her 5-2 lead in the first set tie-break, she delivered outstanding performance in the second set.

However, the fourth seed Garcia fought back fiercely in the deciding set, and Wang eventually missed her chance to make it to the next round.

"In the first set, I was a little bit nervous. I shouldn't have lost that many points. I should have relaxed more in the first set," Wang said after the match.

"I was waiting at the baseline for too long. I didn't do many attacks. That is something I should work on, that I wasn't very satisfied with," she added.

As the defending champion, Garcia said that she was very happy to be back in China Open.

"Every single time I was down, I was playing better. When I had the opportunity to go in front at the score, I was not going for it. Then she was just taking the chance, and I couldn't finish every single time," Garcia said.

--IANS

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