Jelena Ostapenko dominates in Wuhan opener

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia delivered a dominant performance to overpower Australia's Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round of the Wuhan Open in China on Tuesday.

Ostapenko needed just 59 minutes to put up staggering numbers against Kasatkina. She hit 35 winners in just 14 games, compared to only five for her opponent.

She won 73 per cent of points on her first serve and 40 per cent on her second. Kasatkina managed to win 30 per cent of the points on her first serve but none on her second, going 0-for-9. Ostapenko also converted seven of nine break points.

Ostapenko advanced to the second round in Wuhan for just the second time in five attempts — making three first-round exits and reaching the semi-finals in 2017, losing to Ashleigh Barty.

Moving on in a second-round upset was Maria Sakkari of Greece, who defeated eighth seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. It is her best showing in Wuhan since she, like Ostapenko, reached the 2017 semi-finals.

Ranked No. 3 in the world on March 21, 2022, Sakkari is now ranked No. 35 after ending the 2025 season at No. 52.

"What a feeling to secure my first top-10 win since February," she said. "Really pleased with how I played today winning my match.

"I feel as if I've been very close to this level for a long time and I'm glad that the results are starting to show the progress I'm making."

Next up for Ostapenko is second seed Jessica Pegula. Waiting for Sakkari is Mia Pohankova of Slovakia, who defeated Xiyu Wang of China 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (7-9), 6-1.

Two seeded players were eliminated in first-round action on Tuesday. Ukraine's Daria Snigur topped 14th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 7-5, while China's Hanyu Guo defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania, the 12th seed, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.

11th seed Russian Diana Shnaider defeated Katie Boulter of Great Britain 6-3, 6-1.

Also advancing to the second round were 16th seed Maja Chwalinska of Poland, Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, Czech Nikola Bartunkova, Russia's Liudmila Samsonova, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, and a trio of Americans in Ann Li, Ashlyn Krueger and Katie Volynets.