Beijing time, March 11: The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, USA, this afternoon Beijing time ended the competition for the second matchday of the main tournament. In today's match, two Chinese players Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang, who played in the first round of singles, lost to their opponents in the first round. Zhang Shuai, who played in doubles as the No. 2 seed, partnered with Australian star Stosur in the first round of the women's doubles match and was also out of the doubles after encountering an opponent's reversal doubles match. In addition, in a highly watched first round of the women's singles match, Japanese player Naomi Osaka reversed defeating American Stephens to advance to the next round. Let's take a look at the latest news from this event.
Today is the second matchday of the main tournament, with the second half of the first round of women's singles and the first half of the men's singles first round. Two Chinese players played in today's tournament, and Zhang Shuai, who just won the championship in Lyon last week, played her opponent today against Australian Savile, who advanced in the qualifiers. The two have met four times before Zhang Shuai has the upper hand with 3 wins and 1 loss, the most recent of which was at the 2019 Eastbourne Lawn Tennis Tournament, when Zhang Shuai swept through the level. Before the game, all parties were also optimistic that Zhang Shuai would be able to win the game. The match began at 4:40 a.m. Beijing time today on Court 2. After the start of the game, Savile entered the state faster and quickly grasped the initiative of the game, and finally in 91 minutes, Savile swept Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the next round. In the next round, Savile will face Tunisia's Jabour, the 9th seed of the tournament.
Chinese player Wang Qiang, who qualified for the qualifiers, also ushered in her first round of singles matches today, and her opponent is Czech player Butzkova, who has advanced in the qualifiers. The two have met twice before, with the most recent encounter occurring in the semi-finals of the Guadalajara Open two weeks ago, when Butzkova beat Wang Qiang in two straight sets, and the parties still decided that it was a match between the two sides before the match. The match began at 11:40 a.m. Beijing time today on Court 6. After the start of the match, Butzkova continued the good form of the last meeting and quickly completed the break and won the first set of the game 6-3. Wang Qiang, who took the lead in serving after entering the second set, adjusted his state in time to complete the break in the sixth set and took a 5-2 lead, but Wang Qiang did not seize the opportunity to lose 4 consecutive sets to fall behind 5-6, and after completing a break, he dragged the game into the seventh. In the seventh snatch, Butzkova played better and won the second set 7-5 to win the game. So far, of the three Chinese players who played in the women's singles of this tournament, only Zheng Qinwen is still in the signing table. The winning Bouzkova will face the 14th seed of the Tournament, The American Pegula, in the next round.
Zhang Shuai, who lost in singles, also participated in the first round of women's doubles today, and she and Australian star Stosur played in the doubles as the No. 2 seed. Their first-round opponents were a combination of France's Cone and Canada's Fernandez. The match began at 10:00 a.m. Beijing time today in Court 4, and after the game began, the Zhang Shuai combination entered the state faster, and after completing multiple breaks, they won the first set 6-1 to occupy the first chance of the game. After entering the second set, the two sides were entangled in a fight, and the first 12 sets of the two sides fought 6-6 and needed to divide the winner by grabbing seven. In the seven-time game, the Corner/Fernandez combination had a better grasp of the key points and won 9-7 to equalize the score, and the two sides needed to divide the victory and defeat by grabbing ten. In the scramble, the two sides still struggled to score points, and in the end, the Coene/Fernandez combination won the game with a key score to win the grab 10-8. At this point, Zhang Shuai ended the competition with a double defeat in one day. The first round of the women's doubles match was a hit, with only three of the top four seeds passing the first round.
In terms of international players, there was one game that was also notable today and that was a contest between Grand Slam champions on Court 1. 2017 US Open champion American player Stephens faces four-time Grand Slam champion Japanese player Naomi Osaka. The two have met twice before, stephens have won the game, and before the game, all parties are still more optimistic about Naomi Osaka. The match began at 7:30 a.m. Beijing time this morning, and the referee of the match was Zhang Juan, the gold medal referee from China. Stephens got into shape faster after the game started and took the lead 6-3 to take the first set of the game to win the game. After entering the second set, Naomi Osaka adjusted her competitive form, and Stephens also had more unforced errors and quickly pulled back a set 6-1 to drag the match into the decider. After entering the decider, Stephens started with a break to take a 2-0 lead, and then Naomi Osaka improved her competitive state again to play a small climax of six consecutive sets to send the invisible egg to win the decider 6-2 to win the game. Naomi Osaka will face 21st seedEd Russian kudmetova in the next round.
The tournament will begin in the early morning of the 12th Beijing time for the third day of competition, and Chinese teenager Shang Juncheng will face his debut opponent in the Masters tournament is Spanish player Munnar. Youngster Zheng Qinwen will also play in the second round of women's singles against three-time Grand Slam champion German player Kerber. We will continue to pay attention to the coverage of this event.