Wang demolishes Putintseva

GUANGZHOU: Wang Qiang blitzed fifth seed Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday at the Guangzhou Open final Saturday, the second time in as many years a Chinese player has triumphed in the WTA tournament.

Third seed Wang was in charge throughout the hour and 11 minutes of play, earning rapturous applause from the home crowd.

It was the 26-year-old’s second career title after beating compatriot Zheng Sansai at the Jiangxi Open in July.

Wang will now become the highest-ranked Chinese women’s player — leapfrogging Zhang Shuai, who won the tournament last year.

Putintseva had powered through the week up to her convincing 6-1, 6-4 victory over American Bernarda Pera in the semi-final, but stumbled against Wang with nearly two dozen unforced errors, including four double faults. “I played four good matches, and today wasn’t as good,” Putintseva said. “It was different conditions and a different player. I’m just happy that I played a few matches, won some matches here.” Australians Monique Adamczak and Jessica Moore bested Vera Lapko and Danka Kovinic 4-6, 7-5, 10-4 to take out the doubles final. “It was a tough match,” Moore said. “They’re quality players and they executed their game really well. “Tactically, we came out a little bit better and we maintained it.”