China Open struck by injuries: Swiatek and Navarro march on, Boisson retires in tears

The WTA 1000 China Open is defining the rest of the players in the Round of 16 today and saw a couple of mid-match retirements. Top seed Iga Swiatek advanced quickly following the retirement of her opponent Camila Osorio after barely one set—which was a bagel in favor of the six-time Grand Slam champion.

However, the retirement of the Colombian was not the only one that marked the day, after earlier the young Frenchwoman Lois Boisson was prevented from finishing her match against Emma Navarro, passing the American into the China Open Round of 16 (The Spanish text incorrectly says 'cuartos de final' which means quarterfinals, but the context points to the Round of 16).

Injuries continue to appear in the women's draw in Beijing, just one day after the regrettable retirements of Paula Badosa (against Karolina Muchova) and Barbora Krejčíková (against McCartney Kessler). Earlier in the afternoon, Swiatek had already leveled criticism due to the hectic calendar, which is once again claiming victims due to injury in the final part of the season.

It was an easy day for Iga Swiatek, who barely spent 40 minutes on the court before claiming the victory without complications against the Colombian Camila Osorio. The World No. 2 dominated the first set, taking an early break that quickly gave her the confidence to take ownership of the match. Osorio—true to form—quickly had some chances to break back, but Swiatek ended up pulling through an adverse start on her service (0-40), before taking control and holding her service game.

It was absolute domination from Swiatek from then on, as she was always ahead throughout the set. The Pole was dominating 5-0 when Osorio requested a medical time-out, shortly before Swiatek delivered a bagel after 35 minutes (6-0). The Pole won 62% of the points on her serve and 67% of the points on return. The second set barely saw a few service points played with Osorio, and the game could not be finished, as the Colombian opted to retire at that point in the match due to health problems.

Another duel that was marked by injury was that of the 16th seed Emma Navarro, who managed to advance to the Round of 16. The American had a complicated match against the French star Lois Boisson (No. 41), but the match was interrupted by the European's injury toward the end of the first set—which forced her to retire a few minutes later at the start of the second set.

Navarro was the one who had dominated play in the first set, taking a break early that gave her the advantage with barely three games played. The World No. 17 held onto her serve for the rest of the set to give her opponent no chances. With the score 4-2 in favor of Navarro, a new break opportunity came, giving her an even greater advantage at a moment when Boisson was precisely beginning to face physical problems. The Frenchwoman requested a medical time-out and returned to the court, without success against a Navarro who closed the set impeccably with her serve 6-2.

Barely one game was played in the second set, and a tearful Boisson was forced to retire due to the left thigh issue she had suffered in the first set.