Lucia Bronzetti ITA, December 10, 1998 – Photo Getty Images
The Italian tennis players got off to a good start in the WTA 500 tournament in China and both secured a place in the second round.
The prestigious Zhengzhou Open competition, a WTA 500 event with prize money of $780,637, welcomed the Italians positively Jasmine Paolini and Lucia Bronzettiwho skilfully fought their way through their opening games on the hard courts of the capital of Henan Province, China.
Paolini’s success
Jasmine Paolini, born in 1995 and number 31 in the WTA ranking, showed a very solid performance in the first round against the Japanese Moyuka Uchijima, No.182 in the world. The Tuscan tennis player dominated the match and finished with a solid 62:63 in an hour and 23 minutes of play. Uchijima entered the raffle as a lucky loser after Russian Ludmila Samsonova, 22nd in the world rankings, was eliminated.
Although it was their first meeting, Paolini led the game masterfully and showed clear technical and tactical superiority on the pitch.
Now a tough test awaits Jasmine in the second round, who has to face the Frenchwoman Caroline Garciatenth racket in the world and sixth seed in the tournament, taking the place of Kazakh Elena Rybakina, No. 5 WTA, who retired.
WTA Zhengzhou
Moyuka Uchijima0
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Jasmine Paolini• 0
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Winner: Paolini
Positive debut for Bronzetti
For Lucia Bronzetti, 24 years old from Villa Verucchio and currently number 63 in the WTA ranking, the adventure at the “Zhengzhou Open” also took a positive turn. Bronzetti entered the main draw as a “substitute” and survived the first round by defeating the Chinese wildcard Hanyu Guo (No. 435 WTA) with a score of 75 61, at the end of an hour and 34 minutes of combat.
The second round promises to be a close one for Lucia, as she is called upon to challenge the Tunisian Hon. Jabeur, seventh player in the world and fourth seed in the tournament. It will be the first meeting between the two.
WTA Zhengzhou
Lucia Bronzetti• 0
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Hanyu Guo0
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Winner: Bronzetti
Marco Rossi
