The people of Wuhan may have gained the Premier-level Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, but the line-up has lost most of its top names early on. The latest casualty is Maria Sharapova, who failed to make the quarterfinals by falling at the hands of Timea Bacsinszky 7-6(3) 7-5.
In the third round, Swiss world No.61 Bacsinszky faced no break points in the first set. The players held serve until the tiebreak, which went in the underdog’s favor. The fourth-seeded Sharapova managed to score the first break of the match early in the second set, but Bacsinszky broke back to level on 4-4 and continued her stride towards the biggest win of her career.
Bacsinszky is expected to get back to Top 50 on Monday. Last week she played the semifinals of Guangzhou, while her sole WTA title came in Luxembourg in 2009.
Shortly before the Wuhan Open, home favorite Li Na withdrew not only from the tournament but from tennis, Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the event and then even ended her season, Serena Williams quit halfway through her second-round match with Alize Cornet, second seed Simona Halep lost her opener, Ana Ivanovic and Agnieszka Radwanska are also out, Dominika Cibulkova and Jelena Jankovic retired as well, just as Halep’s conqueror Garbine Muguruza today. (photo: Jimmie48)
