Vandeweghe outlasts Peng in Elite Trophy opener
Print Edition
AMERICAN CoCo Vandeweghe kicked off the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, south China’s Guangdong Province, with a dramatic comeback win yesterday, seeing off home wildcard Peng Shuai 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round-robin match of the Bougainvillea Group.
After dropping her serve twice in the opening set, the 25-year-old Vandeweghe, making her debut at the season-ending tournament, rediscovered her rhythm and fired five of her six aces over the course of the next two sets.
The two-time grand slam semifinalist dropped only five points on her serve in the decider to collect her first win of the tournament at the Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Center in one hour and 55 minutes.
“Today was a survive-and-conquer kind of day. I really was playing not so well, very below average for the standard that I’m used to playing and competing at,” Vandeweghe, the second seed, told reporters.
“I think it was just a matter of focusing on the next point at hand and just moving forward. It’s a tough part of the year and it’s a tough event.”
The American had previously won only one match in her past four tournaments on Chinese soil. Peng is the oldest player in the tournament and ranked 27.
Fourth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova opened her campaign with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany in the Rose Group.
The 26-year-old Russian rallied back from an early break down in the final set to continue her impressive run in Asia, after a runner-up finish in Tokyo followed by her third title of the year in China’s Hong Kong earlier this month.
Germany’s Julia Georges held off a late charge from Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia to win 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the first match of the Azalea Group.
The tournament features the leading players on the women’s tour who didn’t qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore last week, in addition to the wildcard awarded to Peng. The 12 players are divided into four groups of three.
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