Chinese teenager Wang advances in French Open qualifiers

PARIS - Chinese tennis talent Wang Xiyu overwhelmed Danielle Lao of the United States in just an hour to take up one spot in French Open women's singles second round qualifiers here on Wednesday.

Fresh from the 2018 US Open girls' singles champion, the 18-year-old Wang is playing in her debut season in senior category. She had stunned the Rio Olympics gold medalist Monica Puig at the Miami Open earlier this season.

The 144th-ranked Chinese player kicked off her Roland Garros campaign in a dominant manner, overshadowing Lao 26-3 in winners and staying ahead in win on first and second serve.

"Actually I felt a bit nervous in my first match of the campaign here," Wang told Xinhua. "The opponent today is quite experienced, and I just try my best on every point."

Feeling the difference between senior and junior matches, Wang noted, "senior players move faster, and are stronger and more experienced."

"I think the mindset is my advantage, as I pose as the challenger in the match," she pointed out.

Wang will look for opportunities of continuing her journey in Roland Garros in Thursday's second round along with teammates Xu Shilin and Zhang Kailin.

China's Lu Jiajing, however, lost to Ekaterine Gorgodze of Georgia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 due to 49 unforced errors in total.

Zhang Ze also bowed out in the men's singles qualifying second round against Italy's Salvatore Caruso at 6-2, 6-2.

Zhang utilized an early break for a 2-0 lead, while seeing his Italian opponent fit into rhythm and bounce back with six games in a row.

"The opponent is more accustomed to clay than me. I played more aggressive at the start, thus registering an early break," Zhang commented.

"But when my first serve somewhat went down afterwards, he rediscovered the rhythm and brought much trouble to me," he added.

A total of 16 male and 12 female players will progress to the French Open main draw from qualifiers until Friday.