Day 2 at WTA Beijing brings four first round matches on the women’s side, and the stakes are already feeling real. The home crowd factor is going to loom large throughout the week, with several Chinese players in action early, and the conditions here tend to reward aggressive baseline tennis. Here is how I see the day playing out.
These two have never met before, so there is no head to head history to lean on. Both players are most comfortable dictating from the baseline, but the way they go about it is quite different. Gao looks to take the ball early and push the pace, while Udvardy tends to be more of a grinder who relies on her footwork and consistency to wear opponents down over long rallies.
On fast hard courts in Beijing and with a partisan crowd behind her, I think Gao’s more aggressive style gives her the edge. The conditions should suit someone willing to go for their shots, and the crowd will only add fuel to that fire. It could easily go three sets, but Gao should have enough to get over the line.
Yihan Qu comes in on a wildcard, which is a brilliant opportunity for the youngster to test herself against a professional opponent at this level. She will have plenty of support from the crowd and should not be short of motivation. There will be moments in this match where she makes Dart work.
That said, Harriet Dart has genuine hard court pedigree and brings a full toolkit to these surfaces. She serves well, competes hard, and knows how to close out matches when it matters. A wildcard making her debut at this level is unlikely to have enough in the locker to trouble her today. Dart should handle this one without too many scares.
This is one of the more intriguing matches of the day. Xinran Sun arrives in Beijing fresh off winning the junior title at the US Open, which is a remarkable achievement, and as the world’s top ranked junior she will be buzzing with confidence. Making her WTA Beijing debut on home soil with the crowd behind her is about as good a scenario as she could ask for.
Eva Lys has had a difficult year physically, and her ranking has slipped as a result. But when she is moving well and playing her counterpunching game on hard courts, she is genuinely awkward to break down. The experience gap between a seasoned tour player and a junior making her debut is still significant, even for someone as talented as Sun. I expect Sun to put up a real battle and push this deep into three sets, but Lys should have enough knowhow to come through.
An all Chinese affair to close out the day’s predictions, and while Han Shi is not here to make up the numbers, the gap in class between these two is substantial. Shi is an aggressive player from the back of the court who uses her serve as a weapon and does not shy away from taking risks on return. She will not be easy to brush aside.
But Qinwen Zheng is a different beast entirely. She has had a frustrating time with injuries over the past year or so, which has stopped her from showing what she is truly capable of on a consistent basis. Her US Open run was a reminder of just how dangerous she is when her body is cooperating. If she brings anything close to that level to Beijing, Shi is not going to be able to live with her. Zheng should be too powerful, too clean, and too sharp for this one to go the distance.
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