China Open: Andreescu wins first match since US Open

Bianca Andreescu extended her winning streak to 15 matches with a three-set win on Monday over Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the China Open.

The fifth seed rebounded from a disappointing second set to romp to a 6-2 2-6 6-1 win over the Belarusian, setting up a second-round meeting with Elise Mertens.

Also progressing to the second round in Beijing were defending champion Caroline Wozniacki and 11th seed Madison Keys, who stopped recent WTA Seoul champion Karolina Muchova 6-4 7-6(5).

Defending champion @CaroWozniacki extends her #ChinaOpen winning streak to seven matches — and 14 consecutive sets.

More: https://t.co/rSEXqVKQ7f

— China Open (@ChinaOpen) September 30, 2019

Five second-round matches were also completed at the National Tennis Centre, with third seed Elina Svitolina, No.8 seed Kiki Bertens, ninth seed Belinda Bencic, Katerina Siniakova and Ekaterina Alexandrova sealing their places in the last 16.

Alexandrova advanced at the expense of sixth seed Simona Halep, who was affected by a lingering back injury in the 6-2 6-3 loss.

“It was a tough one today. I didn’t recover well after my first match, so it was very tough for me to play and she played really well,” Halep told wtatennis.com. “The injury from Wuhan, it’s getting worse, so I have to go home and take an MRI … take a break and do some treatment.”

In a later match, Bencic saved match point to oust Venus Williams 3-6 6-3 7-5.

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Andreescu cut a frustrated figure on Diamond Court during the second set but was a player reinvigorated in the third.

“I think I play my best tennis when I’m a little bit more relaxed. I felt like in the second set I was too tense. But she was playing really well. I think I was just getting down on myself too much,” the Canadian said.

“In the third set I just wanted to stay as positive as I could and just stay relaxed, continue going for my shots.”

Andreescu has not lost a match since her injury-induced exit in the fourth round of the Miami Open in March.

Since then, she has scooped the Toronto and US Open titles to accompany her victory at Indian Wells, results which saw her crack the top five.

“I don’t want to sound like cocky or anything, but I kind of forgot how it feels to lose, which I think is a good thing,” she said.

“When I do visualise and meditate, I always make sure to feel the feeling of myself winning.

“It’s good that I forgot about the other feeling (smiling).”