Beijing domination: Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva crush local hopes to advance at China Open

The third round of the WTA 1000 China Open began this Saturday, featuring the favorites in the top half of the draw. The World No. 2 Iga Swiatek and World No. 5 Mirra Andreeva registered convincing victories over local stars with no major complications to secure their spots in the Round of 32.

The Pole marked a triumphant return following her successful run at the Korea Open—where she claimed the title after surviving a tough final against Alexandrova—and delivered a bagel against Chinese star Yue Yuan. Similarly, Andreeva had little difficulty dispatching Zhu Lin.

It was the return to the courts for the six-time major champion after her successful start to the Asian swing in Seoul, where she won four matches in a row to claim the title. The Pole continues to rack up victories and points, with the chance still alive to catch Aryna Sabalenka late in the year and return to the top of the WTA Rankings, especially considering the Belarusian's absence this week in Beijing.

The first seed showed her superiority from the start of the match, being virtually unstoppable on serve. Swiatek conceded only one point on her serve throughout the set, while she was a constant problem for Yuan (No. 110) on the return. The Pole had a practically perfect first set: she won 92% of service points and 65% of return points, securing three consecutive breaks on six opportunities.

In the second set, Yuan managed to breach Swiatek's service—stringing together several consecutive return points for the first time—but the World No. 2 quickly broke back. Swiatek secured two consecutive breaks and took the lead on her serve. Despite the local star offering resistance in the final games, Swiatek claimed the victory with a comfortable 6-0, 6-3 scoreline in one hour and 16 minutes. She will face Colombia's Camila Osorio in the third round, who surprisingly eliminated 28th seed Anna Kalinskaya.

Mirra Andreeva (No. 5) admitted a few days ago that expectations were perhaps too high after she won two consecutive WTA 1000 titles earlier in the year. The 18-year-old lost some prominence since the return to hardcourts, dealing with an injury and registering a 2-2 record in the North American hardcourt swing. In Beijing, the Russian is looking for a new chance to right the ship, and she started well against former World No. 31 Lin Zhu (No. 253).

It was not a very difficult task for Andreeva, helped by a day where her serve flowed wonderfully, winning 88% of her first-serve points. She immediately secured an opening break and was up a double break in about 20 minutes. It took her only 35 minutes to close the first set 6-2, in which Zhu managed to win only 44% of her service points.

In the second set, things didn't change much—even though Zhu started with the advantage, saving a few break points. Andreeva got down to business and won five consecutive games—with a double break advantage again—and finished closing out the victory without complications to advance to the Round of 32. The teenager's next challenge will be against Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who comes from defeating 29th seed Dayana Yastremska.