Simona Halep of Romania reacts as she leaves the court.
DPA/Beijing
The WTA portion of the China Open suffered a demoralising early hit yesterday as top seed Simona Halep retired trailing 4-5 with an Achilles ankle injury while number two Petra Kvitova was knocked out in quick straight sets.
Halep was the week’s draw card after Serena Williams (ended her season), Maria Sharapova (injured) and French Open finalist Lucie Safarova (ill) all withdrew.
But the remaining elites did not live up to promise, as WTA number two Halep leaves Asia after losing two of three matches in China between Wuhan and Beijing.
Sara Errani claimed an upset for Italy as she knocked out 2014 finalist Kvitova, with the Czech second seed treated for a shoulder injury in the second set of a 7-5, 6-4 loss.
The loss marks a complete change of fortune for double Wimbledon winner Kvitova, who won the Wuhan title in 2014 and followed up with her Beijing final against Sharapova.
US open winner Flavia Pennetta earned a victory in her first match since winning the grand slam a month ago over Roberta Vinci. The Italian defeated Chinese qualifier Han Xinyun 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Two more seeds benefitted from retirements: number four Agnieszka Radwanska won over American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3, retired while Spanish seventh seed advanced over Lesya Tsurenko 6-3, retired.
Key Results
Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) bt Simona Halep (ROM x1) 5-4 ret
Sara Errani (ITA) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x2) 7-5, 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x4) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-3, 0-0 ret
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x8) bt Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 6-2, 6-4
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
