China Open WTA Round-Up: Badosa's tearful retirement, Eva Lys stuns Rybakina, Krejcikova also forced to stop

A new day was disputed at the WTA 1000 China Open, and the best 16 players of the tournament were determined, in a day marked by the retirements of Paula Badosa and Barbora Krejcikova from their respective matches.

Jasmine Paolini and Amanda Anisimova claimed convincing victories, while the surprise of the day came from Eva Lys, who eliminated former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

The day opened with 8th seed Elena Rybakina (No. 10), who seemed the favorite against Eva Lys (No. 66), but ended up being overcome by the talented German, who achieved her first Top 10 victory 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Lys advances to the Round of 16 of a WTA 1000 for the first time and is on the verge of entering the Top 50 for the first time (No. 51 in the live ranking).

It was a difficult day for Rybakina; failing to sharpen her serve over two hours ultimately made her pay for the many opportunities she gave up. The former Wimbledon champion had only a 46% first serve in and won just 56% of those points. As a result, Lys converted 7 of 20 break opportunities, while Rybakina converted the same 7 breaks in 9 opportunities, showing very high efficiency on return. This was of little use after a deficient third set—where she was a break up at 4-3, but Lys ended up winning the last three games consecutively and closed out the biggest victory of her career. Lys's next challenge will be against the American McCartney Kessler.

Italy's Jasmine Paolini looked to maintain her good form in Beijing against 26th seed Sofia Kenin, who had only registered a 3-5 record on the hardcourt swing since Wimbledon but had a convincing debut against Polina Kudermetova in straight sets. The American couldn't pose a challenge to the World No. 9, who swept her, including a bagel, winning 6-3, 6-0 in just one hour and 7 minutes. The Italian was efficient on return points, securing five breaks on eight opportunities and only conceding her serve once.

The Italian has a good chance in Beijing to rack up points as she remains in the fight for a spot in the WTA Finals with Elena Rybakina. The Kazakh—following her elimination—cannot add points, and Paolini begins to close the gap, only two wins away from taking the coveted 8th place in the WTA Race. Paolini will be the favorite against the surprising Marie Bouzková in pursuit of a quarterfinal spot.

Belinda Bencic (No. 16) rescued a hard-fought victory against Priscilla Hon (No. 108), who was playing in a WTA 1000 main draw for the first time since February 2020 at the Qatar Open. The Australian came from qualifying and had eliminated 22nd seed Jeļena Ostapenko. In the first set, Hon provided the surprise, recovering from 2-4 down to take the set 6-4, winning 76% of her first-serve points. However, Bencic reacted and showed her class to recover from a complicated match and ultimately claim the victory 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The Swiss player guaranteed her return to the Top 15 by the end of the tournament—the first time in two years—and still has chances to move further up the rankings. In search of the quarterfinals, she will reunite with Coco Gauff—who survived a three-set battle against Leylah Fernandez. The American leads the head-to-head 3-2, with three of those matches occurring this very season (2-1 in favor of Gauff).

Amanda Anisimova (No. 4) secured another convincing victory in Beijing, this time against local wildcard Shuai Zhang (No. 112) on the main stadium. The 24-year-old American survived a tight first set, where she won a dramatic tie-break on her seventh set point while saving three set points against her, and then dominated the second set, closing out a 7-6[13-11], 6-0 victory.

In the first set, she recovered from a 3-5 deficit to force the tie-break against the local star. Anisimova held a 6-2 lead and four set points, but Zhang miraculously recovered to prolong the tension. Nevertheless, Anisimova took the rollercoaster set 13-11 after one hour and 4 minutes. However, the second set was a mere formality for Anisimova against a Zhang who couldn't keep up with her opponent. Three consecutive breaks and impeccable serving ultimately gave her a convincing victory that leads her to the fourth round, where she will face the complicated Karolína Muchová (13th).

A couple of injuries forced a few major names to retire from their Round of 32 matches this Sunday, including Paula Badosa, who couldn't finish her match against Karolína Muchová. On the main court, the Spaniard only managed to play six games and retired in tears when the score was 2-4 down due to a left thigh/groin injury.

The two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova had a false start and immediately had to have her left knee bandaged shortly after the match began. Although she managed to play her match against McCartney Kessler until the third set, the Czech ultimately retired when the score was 6-1, 5-7, 0-3, giving the American a pass to the Round of 16. Her next opponent will be Eva Lys.