BEIJING - US Open Champions Serena Williams and Marin Cilic powered through their openers at the $5.4 million China Open Monday, with the women's number one crushing her opponent after being 5-0 down. Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa looked to be cruising to a memorable victory against the power-hitting American in Beijing as she raced to a five-game advantage within twenty minutes.
But Williams' response was ruthless, taking seven consecutive games to clinch the set with an incredible show of force. A startled Soler-Espinosa took two games in the following set, but the number one seed in Beijing closed in on victory within 73 minutes with a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline. It was a devastating comeback and a clear statement of intent from Williams, who fell at the first hurdle at the Wuhan Open last week after retiring from her game with a viral illness.
Williams revealed after her match in Beijing that she had undergone doubts about competing in the China Open, following her illness in Wuhan. "I wasn't sure if I was going to play or not," the 33-year-old said. "You know, I just started hitting a couple days ago, taking it day by day. Finally I decided I'm here, I may as well see what happens. Here I am." The reigning champion in Beijing won her sixth US Open earlier this month, the 18th Grand Slam title of her career.
The queen of women's tennis said she fought hard in her opening match in Beijing to avoid a "bagel" -- a 6-0 set. "I just didn't want to lose - I didn't want to lose six love," she said. "I just started fighting. I was like - 'Just let me at least try to break here'." Elsewhere in Beijing, seeds Lucie Safarova and Ana Ivanovic made it through their first-round matches.
Serb Ivanovic, a former world number one, defeated Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-1. The ninth seed in Beijing will play another Swiss player, Romina Oprandi, in the second round. Thirteenth seed Czech player Safarova beat Italian Camila Giorgi 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 in her opening match. In the men's competition fourth seed Cilic did not drop a serve in his defeat of Chinese wildcard Yan Bai -- but was brought to break point on his first two service games.
The Croatian, playing his first game since his convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori in New York, took 81 minutes to dispose of his opponent 6-3, 6-4. Afterwards, he said he was still adjusting to playing competitively since his maiden Grand Slam victory. "I felt that I was playing little bit better and better after the beginning," Cilic said. "(I) was still a little bit rusty after a few weeks. Just to start the match, it was a bit different, different conditions."
The 26-year-old, who was a runner-up in Beijing in 2009 and 2011, is chasing points as he pushes to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in November. The current world number nine is currently in fifth position in the race for the London tournament and must remain in the top eight if he is to make the season finale for the first time. Only five berths are available as the world's top three players -- Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer -- have already confirmed their place for London. The China Open is being held at the Olympic Park in the Chinese capital and will reach its climax on October 5.
Former champ Ferrer out of Japan open in first round: Marcel Granollers knocked fellow Spaniard and former champion David Ferrer out of the Japan Open in a first-round upset on Monday 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The win over the tournament's second seed was the first for Granollers in six meetings with his compatriot, ranked fifth in the world. The early loss is a blow to Ferrer's chances as he fights to qualify for one of five remaining spots at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in November in London.
Ferrer, who also went out in the first round in Shenzhen last week, went down in just over two hours after his serve was broken four times. "Every day in life is different," said the disappointed Spaniard. "It's impossible to win all the time." "In the second set I lost my focus and in the third he played better and took advantage. I'm sad to lose, I need to see what is going on with my game." Granollers rallied after losing the opening set, taking a 5-1 lead in the second set before Ferrer, known as a dogged competitor, pulled it back to 4-5. But Granollers went on to take the set in the next game, bringing about a deciding set. The pair traded breaks from the fifth through seventh games as Ferrer dropped serve for the second time, 3-4. The 2007 champion stayed in touch at 4-5 but was defeated a game later after saving two match points.
Granollers converted on his third with a cross-court volley that left Ferrer with no chance.
South African seventh seed Kevin Anderson held off rising young ATP player Dominic Thiem 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to advance to the second round. Thiem, who at 21 is the youngest player at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, reached the fourth round of the US Open a few weeks after playing a final at home in Kitzbuehel. Anderson took just one hour and 45 minutes, with 11 aces and four breaks of serve to claim his victory.
"He's a good player with a lot of potential," said Anderson. "I was pleased to get through. It's been a couple of weeks since I played in New York (at the US Open)."
" Sometimes after all that time between matches it can be tough. I'm happy with how I was able to play. Conditions were tricky as centre court was actually a bit slow. The balls got heavy after a while. But I was moving well and serving well. I played good tennis. I was relaxed on my service games, which is important."
The tournament field on the second week of a three-week Asian ATP swing is headed by Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, with Canadian Milos Raonic, the losing finalist at the last two editions (to Kei Nishikori and Juan Martin del Potro), taking the third seeding. US Open finalist Nishikori arrived home on Monday after winning his third season title in Kuala Lumpur at the weekend with the defeat of French player Julien Benneteau. Elsewhere in the first round, American Steve Johnson defeated Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 7-6 (7/4), 6-2. Gilles Muller beat Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4 and Kazakh Andrey Golubev put out Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France 6-4, 6-4.