Hong Kong WTA 250: Bencic Continues Winning Streak, Fernandez and Mboko Advance, Boulter Forced to Retire

This Tuesday, October 28th, marked the conclusion of the first round of the Hong Kong tournament.

The round of 16 concluded this Tuesday in Hong Kong. Fresh off her title win in Tokyo last week, top seed Belinda Bencic continued her run in a new tournament to build confidence heading into the end of the season.

The world No. 11 made her debut against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, ranked 111th in the WTA. In their first encounter in two years, the Swiss player got the better of her opponent (6-3, 6-4) and leveled their head-to-head record at 2-2. She will face Wang Yafan for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Seeds number 2 and 3, Leylah Fernandez and Victoria Mboko, also held their ground. The Canadian players eliminated Wang Xiyu (6-1, 6-4) and Talia Gibson (6-7, 6-1, 6-4) respectively to advance to the round of 16.

Fernandez will play against Eva Lys, while Mboko will challenge Alexandra Eala, who benefited from Katie Boulter's retirement during the last match of the day (6-4, 2-1 ret.). The main upset of the day was the heavy defeat of Sofia Kenin, who was nevertheless the No. 4 seed in Hong Kong.

The American, ranked 28th in the world, only managed to win three games against Himeno Sakatsume, world No. 228 and a qualifier (6-2, 6-1). The Japanese player will face Eudice Chong, a Hong Kong player who defeated Suzan Lamens (6-3, 6-4).

Anna Kalinskaya, Sorana Cirstea, Emiliana Arango, and Zhang Shuai also won their matches this Tuesday and will be present in the round of 16.