Wozniacki breezes into third round

Defending tournament champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark needed just 84 minutes to record a 6-4, 6-0 victory over American Christina Mchale in the second round of the China Open on Tuesday in Beijing.

The No. 16 seed won the final seven games of the match to earn her fourth straight victory over Mchale.

“I think I played pretty aggressively today,” Wozniacki said. “I came up with some good volleys, I returned well, I changed direction well I think. Moving forward I have to keep serving well and returning well, hopefully just keep playing the way that I have.”

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu returns to the court Wednesday as the fifth seed battles German Elise Mertens.

Wozniacki is seeking her first successful title defence since winning the Toray Pan Pacific Open in 2016 and 2017. Next up will be Czech Katerina Siniakova.

“This year has been pretty tough, but I still believe that when I feel healthy then I can beat anyone, so I’m not stressing about it,” Wozniacki said. “The last couple of weeks my practices have been great. I’ve been feeling really good and I think that shows in my game.”

Top seed Ashleigh Barty of Australia defeated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2 and fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan eliminated Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-2, 6-0 in 59 minutes.

Other winners included Zheng Saisai, who was celebrating China’s National Day. She knocked off No. 13 seed Sloane Stephens, breaking her serve five times in the 6-3, 6-1 win.

“This is the best National Day ever with a victory, my first time into the third round of the China Open,” she said. “I felt like I had nothing to lose today. I did not want to regret my performance on such a special day.”

Polona Hercog of Slovenia upset 10th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 6-2.