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China Open 2018: Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka Advance on Thursday

Christopher Simpson

Caroline Wozniacki progressed to the quarter-finals of the 2018 China Open on Thursday, but Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova crashed out at the expense of local favourites Shuai Zhang and Qiang Wang, respectively.

Wozniacki eased past Anett Kontaveit in straight sets in Beijing to book her place in the next round, while U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka comfortably dispatched Julia Gorges 6-1, 6-2.

Wang also beat Pliskova in two sets, but Zhang beat Kerber 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 in a rollercoaster of a match.

In the men's draw, Fabio Fognini reached the quarter-final of the competition by beating Andrey Rublev, while Fernando Verdasco lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili.

      

Selected Thursday Results

Men's Draw

(4) Fabio Fognini bt. Andrey Rublev, 6-4, 6-3

Marton Fucsovics bt. Marco Cecchinato, 6-4, 6-2

Nikoloz Basilashvili bt. Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (3), 6-4

               

Women's Draw

(2) Caroline Wozniacki bt. Anett Kontaveit, 7-5, 6-4

Shuai Zhang bt. (3) Angelique Kerber, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0

Qiang Wang bt. (7) Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4

(8) Naomi Osaka bt. (10) Julia Gorges, 6-1, 6-2

                                 

For full results and upcoming schedule, visit the China Open website.

                        

Friday Schedule

Record's Jose Morgado shared the schedule for Friday's action:

                          

Thursday Recap

Kerber's clash with Zhang saw wild shifts of momentum throughout.

The latter stunned the former in the opening set, dropping just a single game. The Wimbledon champion showed her class and resilience in the second to level proceedings in a fashion almost as dominant as Zhang in the first set.

Just as soon as she was back on an even keel in the decisive third set, however, Zhang hit back with some of her best tennis yet on the way to a bagel:

Zhang's path to the final won't get any easier, though, as her reward for beating Kerber is a match with Osaka:

The 20-year-old barely broke a sweat in getting past Gorges:

Zhang will also be joined in the next round by compatriot Wang.

After edging out Pliskova in the first set, Wang found herself 4-1 down in the second. The match did not go to a decider, however, as Wang rattled off five consecutive games to complete a memorable straight-sets win.

Wozniacki also won in two sets, but her match with Kontaveit was hardly straightforward.

The pair shared eight breaks of serve across the two sets, and the Estonian saved five set points at deuce before she eventually succumbed in the final game of the opening set, which lasted more than an hour.

The Dane will take on Katerina Siniakova in the next round, and the Czech won their most recent meeting in Sweden last year. That win was on clay, though, while Wozniacki has won both of their meetings on a hard court surface.  

   

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