Home hero Zhang Shuai stuns Simona Halep to reach Beijing quarters
China’s top ranked player rides wave of crowd support into last eight
.png?itok=arIb17P0)
Home hero Zhang Shuai cruised past Simona Halep to book a quarter-final place at the China Open on Thursday in rain-hit Beijing.
Zhang overpowered fifth-ranked Halep in less than a hour, beating her 6-0, 6-3 to delight the home crowd in the Chinese capital.
It was a day of upsets as Elina Svitolina ousted top seed Angelique Kerber, scuppering her plans of a 12th quarter-final this season, and intermittent rain interrupted – and then suspended – play on the open-air outer courts.
It was the Ukrainian’s second win this year over a world number one after she denied Serena Williams a fifth Olympic gold medal with a straight sets win in the third round in Rio.
In the roofed National Stadium, the home fans’ cheers carried Zhang into the quarter-finals for the first time in seven attempts, dropping just three games en route.
The 27-year-old began the year with a first-round upset of Halep at the Australian Open – her first win in a grand slam main draw, which left her in tears.
But there were no tears on Thursday – just huge smiles and an ecstatic audience.
In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal managed to avoid being the third upset of the day, when he defeated French qualifier Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 7-6 (8-6).
After steaming through the first set, Nadal made 17 unforced errors in the second, pushing the match to a tie break.
Mannarino denied the 14-time grand slam champion his first match point, but the Spaniard advanced to the quarter-finals on the second.
“I played a fantastic first set. Great level of tennis, serving very good, hitting so good,” Nadal said after the match.
“During the second, I think I slow down a little bit the rhythm, and he really played well.”
