Angelique Kerber, Caroline Garcia and Naomi Osaka progress in China

Defending champion Garcia beats Hercog, Osaka defeats Collins

Tuesday 2 October 2018 16:44, UK

Angelique Kerber came back from a break down twice in the first set to beat Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in the China Open second round.

"The conditions with the shadow on court were not so easy to play in the first set," said the world No 3, who defeated Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final this year.

Meanwhile, defending champion Caroline Garcia survived another tough match to book her place in the third round as she defeated Polona Hercog 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.

Garcia was stretched to three sets in her first-round win over Yafan Wang and will next face new Wuhan Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who saw off Garbine Muguruza 7-5 6-4 on her third match point.

Eighth seed Naomi Osaka celebrated qualifying for her first WTA Finals next month by beating Danielle Collins of the United States 6-1 6-0.

Osaka was broken in the first game and won the next 12. She next faces tenth seed Julia Goerges for a place in the quarter-finals.

Qiang Wang blanked 12th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-0 6-0 as the Latvian struggled with a left arm injury.

Ninth seed Sloane Stephens qualified for the round of 16 for the second time as she beat Saisai Zheng 6-1 6-3.

Holland's Kiki Bertens defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 6-1, Dominika Cibulkove eliminated Australian Daria Gavrilova 6-3 6-3 and Anett Kontaveit came from a set down to beat Laura Siegemund 2-6 6-3 6-2.

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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Japan Open & China Open in October while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.