News bites: Garcia stumbles, Murray wins

Published by Tennismash

Caroline Garcia was bundled out at the first stage of her title defence at the WTA Wuhan Open; Getty Images
Defending champion Caroline Garcia loses her opener in Wuhan – and her ranking will take a hit. Andy Murray, meanwhile, gets off to a winning start in Shenzhen.

Caroline Garcia’s ranking is expected to take a hit after the Frenchwoman fell in her opening round match at the WTA Wuhan Open on Tuesday.

Garcia, currently ranked No.4, was the defending champion at the $2.75 million Chinese event.

But she crashed at the opening hurdle, losing 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) to qualifier Katerina Siniakova, despite holding a match point.

As a result, Garcia is projected to slip to eighth in the rankings after failing to defend the 900 points she won 12 months earlier.

And it gets no easier next week, where she is the defending champion at the China Open – with a further 1000 points to defend in Beijing.

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Joining Garcia on the sidelines were world No.1 Simona Halep, sixth seed Elina Svitolina and last week’s Tokyo champ Karolina Pliskova, who all exited in the second round.

Muguruza, Wozniacki back on track

Several other big names in Wuhan, however, enjoyed steadying results.

Garbine Muguruza, who has been struggling of late, dominated an opponent for the second straight match in Wuhan – she dropped just one game against Vikotrija Golubic to reach the last 16, after thrashing Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4 6-0 in the first round.

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki, who has struggled for much of the year following her Australian Open triumph, breezed past Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson 6-4 6-1.

She next faces Monica Puig in a rematch of their controversial fourth-round match at the Miami Open.

No.5 seed Petra Kvitova, a former winner in Wuhan, joined Muguruza and Wozniacki in the third round after defeating Aleksandra Krunic in straight sets.

Murray back with a win

Playing in his first match since a second-round loss to Fernando Verdasco at the US Open, former world No.1 Andy Murray won through to the second round of the ATP Shenzhen Open.

Murray led Chinese wildcard Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-7(3) 4-2 before the local retired due to cramping.

The Scot has said Shenzhen and Beijing will be his last tournaments before he shuts down his season early to focus on an extended training block leading into 2019.

His next assignment in Shenzhen comes against No.1 seed David Goffin, against whom he has a 5-0 winning record.

However, this time around Murray is a wildcard ranked outside the top 300, continuing to make his way back from a hip injury.

Serena to skip China Open

For the fourth straight year, Serena Williams is unlikely to play any events after the US Open.

Williams, who reached the final of Wimbledon and the US Open, was on the entry list for the China Open in Beijing, a Premier Mandatory tournament on the WTA tour.

But she will no longer play it, and that also rules her out of the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Williams is currently 11th in the Race to Singapore and could have qualified with a strong showing in Beijing.

She has not played a tournament following the US Open since 2014, when she won the first edition of the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Surface selected for Davis Cup final

France will stage its Davis Cup final against Croatia in Lille on a clay court.

Playing again at Lille’s imposing Stade Pierre Mauroy, where France won the title in 2017 over Belgium and also defeated Spain in this year’s semifinals, the decision to select red clay was perhaps made with the goal of blunting Marin Cilic’s game.

Cilic is the Croatian No.1 and better on quicker courts; he’s a US Open champion and finalist at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

But second-ranked Borna Coric enjoys clay and has a history of solid results on the surface.

The Davis Cup final will be held on 23-25 November.

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