Wang Qiang caused a major upset in the fourth round of the 2019 US Open by taking out the second seeded Ash Barty on Sunday.
Also Read:
The French Open champion had gone into the match as a favourite against the 18th seed but fell to a straight-set loss to the Chinese player, losing 2-6, 4-6 to bow out of the last major of the year.
Wang, who had never gone beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament before this US Open, will now take on the winner of the Serena Williams v Petra Martic match in her quarter-final.
She was off the blocks early, getting an early break of serve in the first set and then made it a second to wrap up it up 6-2. The trend continued in the second set as well, with Wang breaking Barty yet again.
[the_ad id=”14063″]
Things went on serve after that till Wang needed to serve it out for the match at 5-4. Barty got herself a couple of break-points in a bid to make a comeback but the Aussie failed to convert them and bowed out.
Wang had earlier beaten American qualifier Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 6-4 in the first round, overcame Alison van Uytvanck in the second, winning 7-5, 6-4 before sending out Fiona Ferro 7-6, 6-3 to set up this match against Barty.
An Asian Games gold medalist last year, she had won her first WTA title in 2018 in Jiangxi. Qiang then won her second title at Guangzhou, while wins over Maria Sakkari and Karolina Pliskova helped her reach the semi-final at Wuhan.
Later in the China Open she double-bagelled Jelena Ostapenko, overcame Pliskova the second time before sending Aryna Sabalenka packing in the next round. Wins over Elina Svitolina and Garbine Muguruza followed soon after that.
For Barty, since winning the French Open and Birmingham Open to go on a 12-match winning streak, she has lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon, first round at Rogers Cup, semi-finals at Cincinnati before this ouster.
Be the first to comment