Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Fresh off Kim Birrell’s Korea Open title win, Australia’s top women have struggled on day one at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing.
The quartet, including three top-100 players, got their China Open hard court campaigns underway with top-ranked Aussie Talia Gibson (37) following her weekend runner-up finish at the Singapore Open with a 6-1 6-4 defeat to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Gibson, who lost her maiden WTA Tour final to Canadian Leyla Fernandez, was ousted in 84 minutes by the Belarusian qualifier, who next plays Russian 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Earlier on Wednesday, world No.75 Maya Joint, who lost to compatriot Birrell in the Seoul decider also on Sunday, was beaten 6-3 3-6 7-5 by Sinja Kraus.
Joint dropped serve three times in the opening set, but broke her Austrian opponent as many times to take the second.
The 95th-ranked Kraus failed to wrap up the contest at the first time of asking after securing a break in the ninth game of the deciding set, but did so in the 11th to set up a round-of-64 meeting with compatriot and 16th seed Anastasia Potapova.
There was better news for qualifier Maddison Inglis (140), who was a 6-4 6-4 winner over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, while Taylah Preston (91) was due to later wrap up Australia’s Wednesday involvement against German Tamara Korpatsch.
Birrell (41), Daria Kasatkina (87) and Storm Hunter (182), who also survived qualifying, are Australians in action on Thursday.
US Open finalists, and top-two seeds, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka received first-round byes.
