China Open: US Open champ Sloane Stephens exits in Round 1
October 3, 2017
BEIJING: Newly-crowned Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens was dumped out of the China Open by American qualifier Christina McHale in an opening round clash. The 24 year-old, who also lost her first match in Wuhan last week, had little to offer in the 3-6, 0-6 rout.
Stephens, who appeared lethargic on court, said, “Not really much to say, just a tough day. Obviously not a great match. So just forget about it and move on, try to have a better level for the next tournament.” Stephens, whose inspired run in New York has been the talk of the season, will play in Hong Kong next week.
In another first round clash, an unwell Garbine Muguruza threw in the towel midway through her match against Czech Barbora Strycova. The top-seeded Spaniard was trailing 1-6, 0-2.
Eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova bowed out to Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-7 (4), 1-6 Among the men, Spain’s fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut put out China’s wildcard entrant Ze Zhang 6-1, 6-3; Italy’s Fabio Fognini put out Dutchman Robin Hasse 7-6, 6-2. In doubles, Rohan Bopanna and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas moved past wildcard entrants Mao-Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 6-0, 6-4 to reach the second round.
