World No. 29 Karolina Muchova has made a winning start in Ningbo after ousting Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki 6-3 7-5 in her opening match.
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For the Czech tennis star, this was her seventh win in this year's Asian swing. Previously, she won six matches at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing before losing to Coco Gauff in the final on October 6th.
After playing seven matches in China's capital, Muchova decided to skip last week's Wuhan Open because she felt extremely tired and exhausted.
But this Wednesday, she returned to the court fresh at the WTA 500 event in Ningbo and continued her fine form in Asia.
In the Ningbo round-of-16, the former world No. 7 was slated to play home favorite Zheng Qinwen - but after the Chinese withdrew - she will instead take on Jaquelien Cristian, the player she dismantled 6-1 6-3 two weeks ago.
How Muchova overcame Gadecki?
With breaks in the first and ninth games, the 2023 French Open runner-up routinely bagged the first set.
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After Gadecki stood no chance in the first set, the world No. 84 raised her game in the second set and was even twice up by a break. However,Muchova both times recovered before breaking the qualifier again in the 12th game when the Australian was serving to stay in the match.
"It's really nice to be getting back there, gaining the confidence, the game, and as well as the fitness. It's nothing you can work on outside the court to get these real matches. I need I think as many matches as I can. It's good for me for, as you mentioned, the rest of the season and for next season. I'm just trying to play the ball, play every match I can. For sure it's good to know that I can beat these players, top players. Yeah, it's good," Muchova previously said in Beijing after beating there the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen.
