China's Zhang Shuai bounced back from a shaky second set to take down world No. 14 Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the China Open first round on Monday.
Zhang, world No. 45, played beautifully at the start of the first set, breaking both of her opponents service games and never facing break point herself until Mertens finally showed signs of life to get a break of her own to make it 4-1.
But Mertens was never able to get the necessary momentum going on her service games in the first, committing three double faults and having issues on return as well. Zhang fired one ace and made it 5-1 with a terrific dropshot at the service line, going on to take the set 6-1.
The second set was more of a struggle for Zhang. She did well at the outset, holding her service games and managing to break her opponent to go up at 2-1. But the turning point came when a Mertens break made it 3-all, and a series of unforced errors helped the Belgian run away with the set.
At the opener of the third, it appeared as if Zhang might be in serious trouble. She was broken twice by Mertens in her first two service games, and despite having a break of her own in between, was wobbly enough on return to raise some eyebrows about whether she could go the distance.
But a break at 3-all proved to be the turning point, and Zhang held out her serves for the rest of the set and broke Mertens twice to seal the win in 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Naomi Osaka showed no signs of fatigue as she marked her return from illness with an easy win in the China Open first round, October 1. /VCG Photo
Meanwhile, defending US Open champion Naomi Osaka saw off a resilient Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-3.
The two players fought hard in the first set, with both holding serve to 4-all, despite an early break opportunity for the Japanese world No. 8 in Diyas' first service game.
The second set got underway with each player getting breaks, followed by Osaka running away with the proceedings to go up 5-1. Diyas then held serve and replied with a stellar break of her own, but Osaka kept it together on return to seal the match in just over one hour.
Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki beat Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-3 while former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza of Spain dispatched Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-4.
American Madison Keys pulled out with a knee injury before her match against Anastasija Sevastova and seventh seed Karolina Pliskova cruised past Australian Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-4.