Round-robin play at the Hengqin Life WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai started on Tuesday with victories of Coco Vandeweghe, Julia Goerges and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Second seed Coco Vandeweghe opened the tournament with a 3-6 6-3 6-2 triumph over twelfth-seeded wildcard Peng Shuai in the Bougainvillea Group. Despite playing well below her standard, Vandeweghe managed to push through the difficult match against the Chinese who has was 23 matches in Asia this season, including the Jiangxi International Women’s Tennis Open title.
In the Azalea Group, pleased with the way the courts in Zhuhai suit her game, the seventh-seeded Julia Goerges held her serve throughout her 6-1 7-6(5) victory over tenth seed Magdalena Rybarikova, The 28-year-old German has now won six consecutive matches, having won five en route to her recent VTB Kremlin Cup title that helped her unexpectedly qualify for Zhuhai and made her cancel her vacation plans.
Fourth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova recorded her third straight win this season against former world No.1 and two-time major champion Angelique Kerber, beating the eighth-seeded German 6-3 3-6 6-2 in the Rose Group.
Wednesday’s schedule will feature the following singles matches: Kristina Mladenovic vs. Magdalena Rybarikova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Ashleight Barty and Sloane Stephens vs. Anastasija Sevastova.
I think Jule will win this tournament! She’s on fire!