On September 25, the China Open ushered in the first day of competition in the main event. In a match in the first round of the women's singles, Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai met United States' Kessler. Zhang defeated his opponent 7-6(5), 7-6(1) in two sets, ending his previous record of 24 consecutive defeats in singles on tour.
World Ranking:
Zhang Shuai is ranked 595th in the world and Kessler is ranked 65th in the world.
Engagement Log:
The two have never played each other before, and this is the first time the two have met.
Contest Recap:
In the first set, Zhang Shuai was broken by his opponent as soon as he came up, and fell behind 0-2 in the opening game. In the 10th game, Zhang Shuai broke the opponent's serve to win the set, and then both sides kept one game each, and the game was dragged into a tie-break. In the tie-break game, Zhang Shuai cashed in on the third set point and won the first set tie-break 7-5.
In the second set, Zhang Shuai broke his opponent's first service game, and then Kessler broke back in the second game. In the 7th game, Zhang Shuai broke serve again and took a 4-3 lead. In the 8th game, Zhang Shuai lost 5 points in a row after 40-0 and was broken, but then she broke the opponent's serve after adjusting in the 9th game, and in the 10th game, Zhang Shuai missed the match point in the service game and was chased to 5 draws by the opponent. After that, both sides kept one game each, and the game went into a tie-break again. In the tie-break game, Zhang Shuai led all the way and won the second set 7-1.
Points Bonus:
Zhang Shuai, who entered the second round, received 35 points and $34,500 in prize money, and Kessler, who was out, received 10 points and $23,250.
Next round opponents:
Zhang will next face No.6 seed Navarro in the second round for a place in the round of 32.
Technical Statistics: