Wang Qiang beats Pliskova as top seed Halep out

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China's Wang Qiang continued her powerful performance at the Wuhan Open, shocking No. 8 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic to win 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in a little over two hours.

Neither player was particularly strong on serve, with no fewer than 15 service games being lost over the course of the three sets.

However, Pliskova was especially erratic, with 11 double faults to Wang's four.

After defeating Maria Sakkari and Pliskova, the Tianjin-born star now faces Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova in round three.

Karolina Pliskova hits the ball during the match. /VCG Photo

In a nail-biting tie on Court 1 that ebbed and flowed, fellow Chinese star Wang Xiyu put local fans' emotions well and truly through the wringer, agonizingly failing to convert four match points in a final set tie-break before ultimately giving best to Russia's Daria Kasatkina, with final scores of 1-6, 6-3, 7-6.

The first of the evening games saw another major upset, as No. 4 seed and defending Wuhan Open champion Caroline Garcia was knocked out by Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a marathon three-hour contest.

As in previous matches, the quality of service was not the highest, with both players being broken a combined total of 21 times over the course of the match, but Siniakova's eight aces to Garcia's three ultimately helped see her over the line. The Czech now faces a third round tie against Muguruza.

Top seed Halep knocked out

Simona Halep of Romania reacts to losing a point against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during their women's singles third round match of the WTA Wuhan Open, September 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

There was also a big shock in Tuesday's other late match, as No. 1 seed Simona Halep of Romania was knocked out in straight sets by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. Halep seemed out of sorts in the first set, as Cibulkova took it 6-0 with ease.

The tournament favorite fought back in the second set to lead 4-2, but Cibulkova managed to break Halep three more times on her way to taking the second set 7-5, securing a famous victory and a third round tie against Kasatkina.

In the pick of the doubles action, Xu Yifan and Gabriela Dabrowski overcame Zheng Saisai and Gavrilova 6-0, 6-3 to seal a berth in the quarterfinals.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency