Ningbo Open Round-Up: Muchova dominates all-Czech clash, Tauson falls and Raducanu stunned

The second day at the Ningbo Open finished defining the first round of the tournament, with some big names already eliminated, led by the 5th seed Clara Tauson—surprised by qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic. Furthermore, former Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Markéta Vondroušová were among those eliminated during the day.

It was an all-Czech first-round duel between two players recognized among the greatest talents on the Tour, but who, affected by injuries, have lost the opportunity to be regular enough to stay even higher in the rankings. World No. 20 Karolina Muchova took the victory in straight sets against her compatriot Markéta Vondrouosva (No. 36) 6-4, 6-3 after one hour and 33 minutes.

In a first set where both players were effective on serve, Muchová only needed one break early in the set and then held onto her serve until taking the lead with the first set 6-4. With the emotional boost, the former World No. 8 took an early break at the start of the second set, which paved the way. Vondroušová fought to equalize but it was not enough to achieve a comeback, wasting several break chances. After 2-2, Muchová won 4 of the next 5 games and closed out the victory without major complications, advancing to the second round, where she will face the 7th seed Diana Shnaider.

The 19-year-old star Victoria Mboko suffered her 5th consecutive defeat and continues without a victory since she won the Canadian Open title. World No. 24 could do little against a determined Dayana Yastremska (No. 30), who took the win 6-3, 7-6(4), in a match marked by 9 double faults from the Ukrainian and 7 from the Canadian teenager.

In the first set, the serve was precisely one of the problems for both, with neither achieving more than 50% on the first serve. Mboko managed to overcome a slow start and was a break up in the first set (3-2), but then her level dropped, and Yastremska took four consecutive games to close the set. The second set was a rollercoaster again, with three breaks for each player, and everything ended up being defined in the tie-break, where Yastremska showed her greater experience to close the win and secure a duel against Elena Rybakina in the second round.

The defeat of Emma Raducanu (No. 29) was one of the events that marked the first-round defeat in Ningbo. The former US Open champion fell in three sets to World No. 219 Lin Zhu in two hours and 26 minutes, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The Brit took the lead in the first set, but failed to maintain the advantage and ended up losing to the local wildcard.

Raducanu went from more to less throughout the match. With a 76% first serve percentage in the first set, she barely managed 55% in the second and a poor 37% first serve in the third. The 22-year-old took the lead 6-3 with a correct first set, but from then on, her serve was particularly inconsistent, and she could only win two of the next eight service games she had. Raducanu risks dropping out of the Top 30 after the tournament, while Zhu advances to the second round to face the 1st seed Mirra Andreeva.