Wuhan Open: Seeds sent tumbling out

It might only be Day Two of the Wuhan Open, but the tournament has already lost a raft of its biggest stars. On a disastrous day for seeded players, Johanna Konta [5], Madison Keys [10], Petra Kvitova [11], Angelique Kerber [12] and Sloane Stephens [14] were all sent packing.

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Keys was the first to go. The American, who has been struggling with a wrist injury since her US Open exploits, was beaten in straight sets by qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 6-2 7-6(4).

US Open champion Sloane Stephens was next on court in what was the surprise of the day. After taking a number of weeks away from the game, Stephens was easily dispatched by world No.55 Qiang Wang 6-2 6-2 in just 69 minutes.

Former world No.1 Angelique Kerber was next on to the Centre Court, and the next seed to leave. Kerber was always in for a tough opening match against Caroline Garcia, but given her recent return to form she was expected to win. She didn’t. Garcia got the better of the German in a topsy turvey match, eventually winning 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Johanna Konta has struggled for form of late, and it showed as she was beaten in a tight match by Australia’s Ash Barty. Barty roared away with the first set, before Konta hit back in the second and the Aussie edged the decider in a tiebreak to take a 6-0 4-6 7-6(3) win.

In what was the match of the day, 11th seed Petra Kvitova was ousted by home favourite Peng Shuai. In a match that swung back and forth over three hours 34 minutes, Shuai grabbed the win 7-6(7) 6-7(5) 7-6(3).

But it wasn’t all bad news for the seeded players, Agnieszka Radwanska picked up a much-needed win against Magdalena Rybarikova. The Pole needed just over two hours to down Rybarikova 6-4 7-5.

In the day’s other results, Tokyo finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was ousted 6-3 6-2 by Alize Cornet; Wildcard Jil Teichmann was a 6-4 3-6 6-3 winner over Sam Stosur; and Julia Goerges downed Daria Gavrilova 6-4 1-6 6-4.