Osaka saunters into China Open third round

BEIJING: Naomi Osaka is keen to move on from the “bittersweet” memories of last month’s US Open triumph and she did just that with a ruthless display at the China Open on Tuesday.

The young Japanese star thrashed unseeded American Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-0 in just 53 minutes on Beijing’s outside hard courts to saunter into round three. Not to be outdone, China’s on-form Wang Qiang continued her hot streak with a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing of Latvia’s 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Ostapenko, the 12th seed, required treatment on her left arm during the match, but this was still a hugely impressive display from Qiang in front of her home crowd. The 20-year-old Osaka, whose maiden Grand Slam was overshadowed by Serena Williams’s row with the chair umpire in New York, faces 10th seed Julia Goerges next in the Chinese capital.

Osaka’s reputation is growing fast and organisers on Tuesday said that she has booked her place in the season-ending WTA Finals Singapore for the first time. But the world number six has appeared to struggle with the fallout from the tempestuous final at the US Open, where Williams branded chair umpire Carlos Ramos “a thief” and later accused him of sexism. Osaka said on Tuesday following her hammering of Collins that her coaching team had been trying to keep her qualification for Singapore secret from her. In the men’s draw, top seed Juan Martin del Potro called for treatment by a physio but was mostly comfortable in beating Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5, 6-2 in his opener. Also safely into round two is third seed Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated the American Tennys Sandgren 7-5, 6-3.

Kerber the unlikely hero of star-shorn China Open: With Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray pulling out injured and the always-popular Maria Sharapova also absent, the China Open in Beijing has been crying out for a new fan favourite. Step forward Angelique Kerber.

The 30-year-old German, a three-time Grand Slam winner, is being roared on in the Chinese capital by a small but loud and loyal band of local supporters. And she needed all their backing on Tuesday after falling behind early against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, before roaring back to win their second-round match 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

Zhang Chunyang was among a group of about 30 Chinese — the majority men and some with the German flag painted on their cheeks — willing Kerber on. “Auf geht’s, Angie!” they bellowed, German for “come on”.

Zhang, a 35-year-old event planner from Beijing, said he became a fan after watching Kerber lose to China’s Li Na on television in 2012. Kerber, the third seed in Beijing, is among the favourites for the women’s crown after number one Simona Halep retired hurt in her opener. Serena Williams and Sharapova are not involved, while the men’s draw has none of the “Big Four” of Nadal, Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.