Chinese player Yexin Ma, seeded 14th in qualifying, defeated compatriot Yufei Ren in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. The tournament is played on hard courts and has a prize fund of $9.4 million. With this win, Ma secured her place in the next round of qualifying.
Ren took the early lead, winning the first set 6-4. After that, the initiative shifted to her opponent. Ma won the second set 6-1 to force a deciding set. In the third set, she was again the stronger player, closing out the match 6-3. The match finished 2-1 in sets.
The Opponents and Their Form
Yufei Ren entered the match unseeded. According to the rank.tennis rankings, she is ranked 285th with 244 points. Before Beijing, she played in Palermo, where she defeated Carla Giambelli 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and Miriana Tona 6-0, 6-3, but lost to Fiona Ferro 2-6, 3-6.
For Ma, the victory snapped a losing streak. Before Beijing, she had lost to Kimberly Birrell in the second round in Seoul 5-7, 3-6, to Clara Burel at the US Open 4-6, 2-6, and to Erika Andreeva at Wimbledon. The head-to-head record now stands at 1-0 in Ma's favor. Match statistics are provided by api.tennis.