Anastasia Kulikova, representing Finland, opened qualifying at the WTA 500 tournament in Singapore with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Jiaqi Wang of China. The first qualifying-round match lasted 94 minutes. The tournament is being played on hard courts, and the prize money is $1.2 million. According to rank.tennis, Kulikova is No. 308 in the rankings (234 points), while Jiaqi Wang is No. 405 (158 points).
Kulikova took the first set 6-4. The second was tighter: the set went to 7-5, but the Finnish player also claimed it, closing out the match in straight sets.
What the numbers show
According to api.tennis statistics, serve was not a reliable foundation for either player in this match. Kulikova converted 5 of 8 break points, while Jiaqi Wang converted 3 of 6. On first serve, the Finn won 33 points, compared with 27 for her opponent. Kulikova also had the edge in aces, 5 to 3, but she made more double faults: 4 to Jiaqi Wang's one. In total points won, the winner was also ahead, 75 to 65.
This was the only meeting between the two players in their head-to-head history. For Kulikova, the Singapore match continued her run after Athens, where she beat Alexandra Panagiotidou 6-1, 6-1 and lost to Elena Micic 3-6, 6-3, 4-6. Her next opponent in Singapore was Anna-Lena Friedsam, and Kulikova lost that match 4-6, 3-6. Before Singapore, Jiaqi Wang played in Jingshan, where she beat Ying Zhang 7-5, 7-5 and lost to Wushuang Zheng 2-6, 6-7(2).