'I'll benefit from a win after overcoming pressure' - Zhang zips past Linette in Shenzhen

SHENZHEN, China - No.8 seed Zhang Shuai continued a fine opening day for home players at the Shenzhen Open with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Magda Linette in one hour and 14 minutes.

The result extends the Chinese No.2's dominance over Linette to five wins in as many matches stretching back to their first meeting in the 2014 Kuala Lumpur quarterfinals - and opens the door for a deep run in Shenzhen for the first time.

Though Zhang has often excelled on home soil, winning both of her career titles in Guangzhou, four previous appearances in Shenzhen had garnered her only two second-round showings before today.

"I'm glad to have the first win of the season - that's the first goal," she said afterwards. "I have lots of respect for my opponent, she's been improving over recent years. First set was really close, she served well, trying many varieties. I feel it helped me that we had a tough first set so I could learn from it. I'll benefit from a win after overcoming pressure."

The 30-year-old's sharp performance today indicated her determination to rectify that. Zhang was impregnable on serve during the first set, winning 93% of her first serve points, conceding only five points overall and saving the sole break point with an efficient backhand one-two punch.

Clean baseline hitting and aggressive returning augmented the Zhang serve as she placed consistent pressure on her opponent.

Linette's form, by contrast, was up and down. The Pole struggled with errors from her forehand wing in the initial stages of the match, but was able to bail herself out of her opening few holds with strong serves.

The World No.43 was also able to put up valiant resistance to Zhang's continuous threat, fending off the first five break points she faced over three separate games, frequently with audacious winners from both wings.

However, Zhang displayed no disappointment in being unable to take these opportunities, maintaining her level and eventually getting rewarded on her sixth chance as a Linette forehand drifted wide for the only break of the first set at 4-4. A love hold, finished with a second ace, sealed the opening stanza for the Wimbledon quarterfinalist.

Linette started the second set strongly, taking advantage as Zhang offered up a brief lapse of errors to fall behind a break for 0-2. But the 27-year-old repaid the favor in kind, conceding the immediate break back as her own groundstrokes went awry - and thereafter, Zhang resumed her control of the match to an even greater degree than before.

The World No.40 would rattle off 20 of the next 24 points to rebound from 0-2 to 5-2, breaking Linette three times in a row, and would only drop seven further points in the match. Though Zhang would need to save a break point in the final game, she did so with aplomb, forcing a Linette error with a booming crosscourt backhand before completing the "hidden bagel" with a pair of service winners. 

Zhang's victory was the second in a row for a home player on Centre Court after 18-year-old wildcard Wang Xiyu came from a set down to oust Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, dominating the final two sets with searing baseline power to set up a clash with No.3 seed Elise Mertens.

Zhang, meanwhile, will bid for a maiden Shenzhen quarterfinal against Kateryna Bondarenko. The Ukrainian, who returned from her second maternity leave last September, scored her first WTA main draw win since Eastbourne 2018 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Misaki Doi.

All three Chinese players in singles action on Sunday scored a victory, as Zhang will be joined in the second round by compatriots Wang Yafan and Wang Xiyu, each of whom rallied from set down to win their first round matches. 

Eighteen-year-old Wang Xiyu, a wildcard ranked World No.144, beat Sorana Cirstea, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, while Wang Yafan downed Sara Sorribes Tormo, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.