Day 2 at the China Open saw Sonay Kartal joined fellow Brit Katie Boulter in the 2nd-round of the WTA 1000 event in Beijing after defeating American Alycia Parks, 6-3 6-2, and lining up a meeting with Daria Kasatkina, the No 14 seed representing Australia.
Yeah, I guess the focus is really just building for next year, and treating this part of the swing, kind of, as a pre-season almost, which I did that last year. Ended up being successful, so we’ll see. Although, technically, I’m the defending champion [in Beijing], it doesn’t feel like that at all. Coco Gauff
The British No 3 is looking to build up some momentum and form after a good showing at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, and her emphatic win over Parks is a promising start as she begins her Asian swing, where the 23-year-old is making her debut.
Boulter, the British No 2, who will be gunning to better last year’s 2nd-round performance, when the 29-year-old opened with a straight sets victory over Taylor Townsend before falling short to eventual champion Coco Gauff.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu, the No 30 seed, now knows her opening opponent, which is Cristina Bucsa a qualifier from Spain, who sent Croatia’s Donna Vekic packing, 6-2 6-4.
The British No 1 and former US Open champion, who withdrew from last year’s tournament due to injury and is hoping to return with a bang off the back of some strong results of late, faces a potential clash against World No 7 Jessica Pegula in the 3rd round.
Chinese wild-card Yuan Yue was thrilled to defeat Yulia Putintseva to earn herself a 2nd-round contest with top seed Iga Swiatek
© Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
Thursday saw the completion of 1st-round matches in the draw in preparation for the arrival of the top 32 seeds, all of whom received a bye, and who begin their campaigns on Friday.
German qualifier Ella Seidel continued her strong form with a 7-5 6-4 upset over Magdalena Frech, improving to 2-0 overall against the Pole.
Seidel, who reached the Seoul quarter-finals last week, now has a 6-1 record against Top 50 players since June.
Chinese wild-card Zhu Lin scored her first win in Beijing since 2014 when she dispatched qualifier Moyuka Uchijima, 6-1 6-3, and improved to 2-0 overall against the Japanese.
In a clash between 2 Chinese wild-cards, Wang Xiyu defeated Guo Hanyu, 7-5 6-1, to notch up her first tour-level win since the Australian Open in January, and now will meet Linda Noskova, the 26th seed from Czechia in round 2.
In a rematch of the 2021 Tenerife final, Camila Osorio from Colombia defeated American Ann Li, 7-5 6-7(5) 7-5, in 3 hours and 1 minute in the China Open first round.
Osorio won the first set from 3-5 down, and came within 2 points of victory in the both second set, at 6-5, and in the tiebreak, before prevailing in 3 sets to next take on Anna Kalinskaya, the No 28 seed from Russia.
Her Colombian compatriot, Emiliana Arango, took out Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens, 6-3 6-3, and meets home favourite Zheng Qinwen, the 7th seed, in what is the Chinese’s first match back from an injury since since Wimbledon.
The last-minute lucky loser, who replaced Wang Yafan who withdrew due to a lower back injury, made the most of her second chance and improved to 2-1 overall against Lamens.
French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson outlasted Dalma Galfi, a Hungarian qualifier, 7-6(6) 5-7 6-2, in yet another 3 hour 24 minute Beijing 1st-round marathon, and advances to play Liudmila Samsonova, the 19th seed from Russia next.
Boisson recovered after losing a 3-1 second-set lead, and also saved a set point in the first set to win the joint-8th longest tour-level match of 2025 to date.
Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse levelled her head-to-head with Rebecca Sramkova from Slovakia at a win apiece with a straight-forward 6-2 6-2 win to line up a crack at American Emma Navarro, the 16th seed.
Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic came from 0-4 down in the first set to defeat 2024 quarter-finalist Yuliia Starodubtseva from Ukraine, 7-6(1) 6-2, and meets Pegula, the American 5th seed next.
Late in the day, Chinese wild-card Yuan Yue defeated Yulia Putintseva, 6-3 6-3, to set up a meeting with top seed Iga Swiatek on Saturday, improving to 2-1 overall against the Russian-born Kazakh.
Russia’s Anastasia Potapova defeated Katerina Siniakova from Czechia, 6-3 6-4, holding off a first-set charge from 0-5 down, having lost both of her previous meetings to the Czech via retirement, while Zeynep Sonmez from Turkey won her first WTA 1000 main-draw match, 6-2 6-0, over Chinese wild-card Wei Sijia to complete the 1st-round of matches.
Defending champion Coco Gauff is treating the China Open as a pre-season warm-up for 2026
© Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images
Meanwhile, the seeds in the lower half of the draw prepared for action on Friday, including the defending champion, Coco Gauff, who is the No 2 seed, but seemingly is treating the China Open as a pre-season preparation for 2026.
Her statement sparked speculation as to her mindset in finishing off 2025 and heading into 2026 with a clean slate, despite having a trophy to defend, as well as 1,000 ranking points.
“Yeah, I guess the focus is really just building for next year, and treating this part of the swing, kind of, as a pre-season almost, which I did that last year,” Gauff said during her press conference ahead of the competition. “Ended up being successful, so we’ll see. Although, technically, I’m the defending champion [in Beijing], it doesn’t feel like that at all.”
Gauff is the reigning champion after beating Karolina Muchova in straight sets in last year’s final.
After one of her roughest defeats to Naomi Osaka, 6-3 6-2, in the 4th round of this year’s US Open, Gauff’s season has been at best patchy, with her highlight being capturing Roland Garros, her second Grand Slam title, but then suffering 1st-round exit at Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old’s serve betrayed her, and double-faults piled up in key moments, which, ultimately, led to her split from longtime coach Matt Daly .
Gavin MacMillan, who previously worked with World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and J.C. Faurel have since been brought in to recalibrate her career.
Gauff, who is seeded No 2 behind Swiatek in Beijing this year, just above Amanda Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva, and Jessica Pegula, after Sabalenka opted to skip the event due to injury, which opens the draw field even more, received a 1st-round bye, and will open against Kamilla Rakhimova from Russia.
Taylor Townsend made some unfortunate comments about the food at Shenzhen during the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last weekend and subsequently pulled out of the China Open in Beijing
© Zhe Ji/Getty Images for Billie Jean King Cup
Elsewhere, Doubles World No 2 Taylor Townsend pulled out of the China Open ‘due to a change of schedule’, the WTA stated on Thursday, days after the American made controversial comments about Chinese food.
Townsend came under fire for calling buffet food ‘crazy’ while competing at the Billie Jean King Cup in Shenzhen, which ended on Sunday.
“What the hell… turtle and bullfrog is WILD,” Townsend posted on Instagram. “These people are literally killing frogs, bullfrogs. Aren’t those the ones that give you warts and boils and stuff?” she added, before later apologising.
The 29-year-old was due to be top seed with Czech partner Katerina Siniakova in the women’s doubles in Beijing.
