Zheng Qinwen of China celebrates her straight-sets victory over Kamilla Rakhimova in the women's singles second round at the China Open in Beijing, China, September 28, 2024. /CFP
China's top tennis player Zheng Qinwen was absolutely ruthless in dismissing Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1 as the reigning Olympic champion dropped just two games while cruising to a routine victory in the second round of the China Open on Saturday.
The 21-year-old from Hubei Province won the historic first-ever singles gold medal for China at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, and dominated her Russian opponent in the first set of her return to Beijing, claiming the opening frame 6-1 with a strong forehand.
Zheng had a bye in the first round of the WTA 1000 event and was clearly looking to keep the match short as her powerful groundstrokes were simply too much for the overwhelmed Rakhimova.
Zheng reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in January and advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open earlier in September.
On the Diamond Court in the Chinese capital, Zheng did not ease up, putting on a short but thrilling show for the 15,000 capacity crowd. She polished off the second set with aplomb 6-1 and will face Nadia Podoroska of Argentina in the third round.
"I strengthened my physical fitness recently and increased the amount of exercises I do. If you do well in physical training, you can reach a high ball speed while only using 70 percent of your power, instead of 100 percent. So I think the training is of great help to me," Zheng said.
Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil hits a shot against Wei Sijia of China (not pictured) in the women's singles second round at the China Open in Beijing, China, September 28, 2024. /CFP
Two more Chinese players, Wei Sijia and Yuan Yue, were both eliminated in straight sets in the second round.
The 20-year-old Wei, who was the 2018 China Open junior girls champion, lost to World No. 12 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. Haddad Maia, who won the title at the WTA 500 Seoul Open last week, swept to victory in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.
Meanwhile, Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic defeated China's Yuan 6-3, 6-1 win to reach the third round as well.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus hits a shot against Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand in the women's singles second round at the China Open in Beijing, China, September 28, 2024. /CFP
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus clinched a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand.
"She (Sawangkaew) played a lot of tricky shots, which were much slower, and I was trying to find my return," said Sabalenka, who captured women's singles titles at both the Australian Open and US Open earlier this year.
"I have a lot of great memories from China, which bring me more motivation to compete on my highest level and make sure I can stay 'til the very last stage of the tournament," she added.