Top seed Simona Halep and defending champion Katerina Siniakova both marched into the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open on Wednesday.
Playing the big serving world No.91 Duan Ying-Ying, Halep was trailing by a set when she produced a stylish comeback which relied on a change of tactic that involved getting closer to the baseline, stronger hitting and better movement. The 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory is now keeping the No.1 ranking in Halep’s hands.
Defending champion and sixth seed Katerina Siniakova struggled with her serve against Chinese wildcard Wang Yafan, recording six double faults and a first serve percentage of 58%, but was in the end able to secure a 7-5 6-3 win in one hour and 33 minutes.