Sofia Kenin (USA) had a successful start at the WTA 1000 China Open, eliminating Ana Bogdan (Romania) in the first round after 2-0 (7:5, 6:2) in 1:26 hours of play.
The American tennis player, who is Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up in 2020, started the match in the worst possible way, losing her first serve game. However, she succeeded to return the break again and after this critical moment both players won their serve games, although Sofia Kenin needed to save a breakpoint in the 7th game. Ana Bogdan served to stay in the set in the 12th game, but gave a breakpoint to her opponent, who did not missed to catch it and closed the set at 7:5.
The second set started with an early break for Sofia Kenin, who took a lead by 2:0. Ana Bogdan returned the break for 2:1, but the experienced American played broke again and kept her lead. Another break in then8th game of the set, allowed Sofia Kenin to win the match by 2-0 (7:5, 6:2). Her next opponent will be the 12th-seeded Diana Shnaider (Russia).
In the other matches of the day, Greet Minnen (Belgium) eliminated Erika Andreeva (Russia) after 2-0 (7:5, 6:2), while Xinyu Wang (China) defeated Mai Hontama (Japan) by 2-0 (6:1, 6:3).
Meanwhile, the American tennis players Amanda Anisimova and Bernarda Pera withdrew from the WTA 1000 China Open, just hours before their first round matches versus Xinyu Wang (China) and Anhelina Kalinina (Ukraine).