Iva Jovic defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6:1, 7:5 in the round of 32 at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing. The hard-court tournament has a prize purse of $9.4 million. The American, seeded 10th, moved into the round of 16.
One set at pace, the second decided on nerves
The first set was one-sided, with Rakhimova taking only one game. The second was much tighter, and the final 7:5 shows the margin there was minimal. The match ended in straight sets, and Jovic did not lose a single set.
The two players took very different routes to this match. In the round of 64, Jovic beat Harriet Dart 2:6, 6:3, 6:3, coming back after losing the opening set. Before that in Guadalajara, she beat Peyton Stearns in the final 6:4, 6:2, Cristina Bucsa in the semifinal 6:4, 6:1 and Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinal 6:2, 6:1. In Beijing, Rakhimova got past Marina Bassols Ribera 6:4, 7:6(2) and Leylah Fernandez 6:2, 4:6, 6:3. Before that, she lost in Seoul to Katie Volynets 3:6, 0:6.
According to rank.tennis, Jovic is No. 11 in the rankings with 2860 points. Rakhimova is No. 69 with 959 points. The head-to-head, according to api.tennis, also favors the American: she has three wins in three meetings. One of those matches went to three sets (6:1, 1:6, 6:1), while the others were decided in two.