Mananchaya Sawangkaew defeated Maya Joint in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan. The hard-court match ended 4-6 6-2 7-6(3) and went the distance. The win allowed the Thai player to advance through the opening round of qualifying. The news was reported by api.tennis.
How the match unfolded
The first set went to Joint, the 14th seed in qualifying, 6-4. In the second set, Sawangkaew levelled the match by taking the set 6-2. The decisive third set went to a tiebreak, where Sawangkaew prevailed 7-3, closing out the set 7-6(3).
The two players were closely matched in the rankings. According to rank.tennis, Sawangkaew sits at number 84 with 868 points, while Joint is ranked 92nd with 824 points.
For Sawangkaew, the Wuhan victory was her first after two consecutive defeats. In Seoul, she lost to Alina Korneeva 4-6 2-6, and at the US Open she fell in the second round to Leylah Fernandez 4-6 1-6. Joint arrived in China after reaching the final in Seoul, where she lost to Kimberly Birrell 4-6 2-6. In Wuhan, she suffered another defeat.