WUHAN: Australia’s Daria Gavrilova produced an inspired performance to defeat 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 in the opening round of the Wuhan Open on Monday. Gavrilova withstood a flurry of early winners from the 2017 French Open champion but then broke Ostapenko’s serve five times to prevail in one hour and 26 minutes. World number 33 Gavrilova next faces Czech Barbora Strycova, who beat Alize Cornet 6-3 6-2. Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, seeded 14, beat her Wimbledon conqueror Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4 6-0 to set up a second-round clash with Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic. “I remember the match from Wimbledon, like a very tough match for me… It’s always good to play again the same person that beat you… feeling good you did something much better than the previous match,” Muguruza said. Briton Johanna Konta’s patchy form continued as she fell 7-5 6-4 to last year’s finalist Ashleigh Barty. American Coco Vandeweghe was forced to retire from her match with Donna Vekic after injuring her right ankle while trailing 6-4 3-6 2-1. Croatia’s Vekic faces Anett Kontaveit next. World number one Simona Halep, scheduled play Dominika Cibulkova on Tuesday, faces a struggle to be fit after suffering a back problem while training on Monday. “I don’t know why it happened. It’s been a difficult 24 hours, but I hope to be ready tomorrow,” Halep said. Published in Daily Times, September 25th 2018.