Madrid (Spain) – Chinese Xinyu Wang pulled off an unlikely upset in the opening round of the WTA 1000 in Madrid. The 22-year-old player, currently 42nd in the rankings, saved 10 match points in the victory over Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova this Wednesday and closed the game with splits of 5/7, 7/5 and 6/4 in 2h49 of play.
After a first set with ups and downs, in which Wang led 5/3, but took the turn, the second set started devastatingly for Tomova, who won 4/0 and went on to play eight games in a row in the match. The Bulgarian’s first three match-points were when she was winning 5/2, but the Chinese managed to keep the service game.
Afterwards, Tomova served for the game and had seven other chances to close the match, but Wang again managed to save herself. The Chinese gained confidence to win the last five games of the second set. She also opened 4/0 in the third and was ahead on the scoreboard the entire time, even though the Bulgarian closed the gap at the end of the game. Unlike her rival, Wang closed the game at her first opportunity. She now faces Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, 24th in the rankings.
Danilovic saves four match points and faces Collins
Another tennis player who escaped defeat this Wednesday was Serbian Olga Danilovic, 122nd in the rankings and coming from qualifying. She saved four match-points in the victory over Frenchwoman Clara Burel, 44th placed, with splits of 3/6, 7/6 (10-8) and 6/4 after 2h37 of play.
The first match point saved by Danilovic was when she lost the second set 5/3. The other three were in the tiebreak. In a third set with seven breaks, the Serbian consolidated the turnaround. Her next rival is North American Danielle Collins, 15th in the world and winner of two titles this season, in Miami and Charleston.
