British top seed Katie Poulter rediscovered her level to qualify for the round of 16 at the Ningbo Open after defeating Italian Sarah Errani in straight sets on Tuesday.
Poulter’s level had declined since the grass court season, but she ignored seven double faults and a long rain delay to achieve a dominant victory over the veteran Italian player.
In a match that was stopped due to heavy rain, Boulter came out with a score of 2-2 after a long pause, and proceeded to attack and take control, winning the first set 6-3.
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The 28-year-old British player broke her Italian opponent’s serve at the beginning of the next set and strengthened her serve to lead 3-0.
She quickly forced Poulter to break serve a second time, pushing her into a 4-0 lead, and although she had a break point herself when serving for the set at 5-1, she broke immediately to seal the match.
In the next round, Boulter will face Brazilian Beatrice Haddad Maya (28 years old) for a place in the quarter-finals.
Two of Ningbo’s top three seeds have already withdrawn from the French Open and Wimbledon, Yasmin Paolini and American Emma Navarro.
Nouri takes advantage of the loss but Fernley wins again
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Highlights of the Stockholm Open match between Cameron Norrie and Miomir Kekmanovic
Former British number one Cameron Norrie has not played a major match since July after suffering a forearm injury that ruled him out of the Olympics and US Open.
But the 29-year-old, who returned to action at the second-tier Challenger tournament last week, was unable to extend his stay at the Northern Open in Stockholm, losing 6-4 6-4 in the first round to Serbian Miomir Kekmanovic. .
His British colleague, Jacob Fearnley, qualified for the second round, but the Scottish player continued his wonderful career with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
The 23-year-old recently broke into the top 100 for the first time after rising up the rankings since leaving college in the US in the spring.
He came through qualifying in Sweden on the back of two Challenger Tour titles and extended his unbeaten streak to 13 straight matches with his first win at tour level outside Britain.
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Excerpts from Jacob Fearnley’s win over Corentin Moutet in Sweden. An emotional win for Dart in Osaka
Elsewhere, Boulter’s British compatriot Harriet Dart was impressed after winning in three hours 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 over her opponent.
Laura Siegemund in the first round of the Japan Open, ending a three-match losing streak.
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Highlights of the Japanese Open Round of 32 match between Harriet Dart and Laura Siegmund
After losing the first set 6-3, Dart showed her courage and composure to win the difficult second set 7-5, before going on to win the third set with the same result.
Dart will next face Denmark’s Clara Tosson – who knocked out the 28-year-old Briton in the first round of the China Open three weeks ago – for a place in the quarter-finals in Osaka.
Meanwhile, Dan Evans also picked up the win, having claimed two Almaty Open qualifiers with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win over Taro Daniil as he bids to return to the top 100.
What’s new on Sky Sports Tennis in October? Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 Championship (October 14-20 – Dan Evans in play) Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 Championship (October 14-20 – Jacob Fernley in play) European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20) Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20 – Harriet Dart in action) Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20 – Katie Poulter in action) Erste Bank Open , Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27) Swiss Indoor, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27) Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27) Toray Ban Pacific Open, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)
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Highlights of the Stockholm Open match between Cameron Norrie and Miomir Kekmanovic
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to more than 50 per cent of live sporting events this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
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Highlights of Jacob Fernley’s win over Corentin Moute in Sweden
