Australian Storm Hunter defeated China's Ruien Zhang in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round of qualifying. The event, which has a prize pool of $9.4 million, is played on hard courts, according to api.tennis.
Ruien Zhang took the first set 6-3. Hunter answered with an identical scoreline in the second set to force a decider, where she conceded just two games to close out the match 6-2.
Ranking gap
Hunter is the 16th seed in qualifying. She sits 161st in the rankings with 447 points, while Ruien Zhang is 603rd with 72 points, according to rank.tennis. This is their only meeting on record, with the head-to-head standing at 1-0 in the Australian's favor.
In Singapore, Hunter lost to Joanna Garland in the first round of the singles tournament, 3-6, 7-5, 1-6. In doubles, she won her opening match against Makoto Ninomiya and Nika Radišić 7-6(3), 7-6(4), before falling in the quarterfinals to Qianhui Tang and Yifan Xu, 3-6, 1-6. Before Beijing, Ruien Zhang competed in Ma'anshan, winning two matches to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to Daria Khomutianskaia, 4-6, 2-6.