Day two of action at the 2016 China Open wrapped up with mixed results for Chinese singles players but a few surprises among them on Sunday.
China's Zhang Shuai powered through her meeting with Australian Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-2. It was a result that even surprised Zhang herself, who said she did not "at all" expect such an easy match.
"Honestly, I exploited my full potential. My opponent didn't do very well. After the US Open, she did not play very much. She just came to Wuhan and Beijing. I feel very sad for her. She made a lot of mistakes," she said.
Zhang will next meet Alison Riske from the United States, and said she is up for the challenge.
"She's really a brave competitor, intelligent and diligent player. From the ITF to the China Open we were working together shoulder by shoulder. We were having similar rankings. We respect each other. We encourage each other," Zhang said.
"I hope both of us could provide you a real quality performance," she added.
Wang Yafan was also through to the next round of action. She overpowered American Madison Brengle in another straight-sets victory, 6-2, 6-2.
Wang said she attributes her victory to her aggressive play on court.
"When I prepared for this match, I like to compete with the top players. I like to play not that conservatively. I don't want to be too conservative. I like to play aggressively," she said.
"Of course we may make some mistakes, but it depends on the moment. If it's a key moment, if you make the mistake, it is too bad. It's okay for us to make some minor mistakes," she added.
As for the possibility of meeting Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the next round, Wang said she views going up against such a seasoned opponent as a learning opportunity.
"I'd like to learn more from her. I will focus on my shots, my game. I don't feel pressure facing her. What I need to do is to play my game, my shots," Wang said.
Other Chinese players met more of a struggle in their first-round matches. American Madison Keys overtook Duan Yingying 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.
Keys dominated in the first set with her signature offensive play at the baseline, not allowing her opponent a single game and taking the set 6-0 in just 19 minutes of play.
Duan responded with a solid second set, taking it 6-4, much to the delight of the home crowd at the Diamond court.
The No.8 seed would prove to be too much for Duan in the third set and Keys brought it home 6-1 to move into the second round of action.
Duan said her opponent's serves eventually became too much for her to handle. "This was my first time to feel the faster, heavy balls. It was really difficult for me to deal with. I was not quite familiar with her skills," Duan said.
"On the court, I found it really difficult to get her balls back. She really hits deep. It was very hard for me to stay with her. After that, I feel that she's really good on her serve," Duan added.
The night ended with Danish player Caroline Wozniaki taking out American Coco Vandeweghe 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
Wozniaki said she felt her play started off strong in the first set, but found herself on defense in the second.
"I started off pretty well, could return quite a few of her serves, put her under pressure. Then in the second set she started serving a bit better. That got me a little bit too much into the defense. Then she went for some shots and broke me. All of a sudden I had to keep trying to fight back," she said.
Reading her opponent's serve was another difficulty that she encountered.
"It's hard. I mean, she serves big. Her first and second serve is pretty big. It's not like you think, Okay, she missed a first serve, now I have a good chance to attack on the second. She's just a tough player to play because you get no rhythm," she added.
Wozniaki will next meet Italian veteran Robera Vinci, and said she is expecting another opponent who is difficult to read.
"It's another uncomfortable player. She mixes it up. She plays the flat forehand. Mix of pace. I'm ready for it. I'm just going to go out there and enjoy," she said.
Other results saw Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan defeat 7th seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-1, 6-3. Timea Babos of Hungary took out Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-1, 6-2.
Joanna Konta of Britain took out Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-1, 6-1. And finally, Misaki Doi of Japan bested American Nicole Gibbs 7-5, 6-2.
