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BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- World number one Angelique Kerber from Germany overcame a spirited Barbora Strycova to take her place in the third round of the China Open WTA tournament while in men's part fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain also advanced on Wednesday.
In an entertaining conclusion to the match, Kerber twice failed to serve out the match before finally closing out a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory. The German will now face Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a place in the quarterfinals.
"The match was on a really high level at the end of the second set. We run a lot, both of us. I think we both have great returns. I think that was also the key for both of us to break back. She breaks me back, and then I break her back," Kerber said.
Trailing 4-0 in the tie-break, Strycova from the Czech Republic continued to chase down lost causes, reducing her arrears to 4-3 before finally succumbing when she pulled a weary forehand wide.
"It was back and forth. In the final tie-break, I was just trying to forget about everything that happened before, just being in the tie-break, starting from zero," Kerber added. "I was 4-0. She came back again. It was actually an up-and-down tie-break as well. But finally I won it, so it was a good match at the end for me."
There were also second round wins for Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, fifth seed Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic and Britain's uprising star Johanna Konta.
In third round encounters, Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic, who just claimed the Wuhan Open title, defeated Spain's Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 6-4 while American Madison Keys dispatched ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (2), 6-2.
In men's part, fifth seed David Ferrer was through to the quarterfinals after dismissing Fabnbio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 6-4.
The Spaniard, who finished runner-up at the China Open in 2010, is bidding to reach his first final of the season. He moved one step closer as he maintained his perfect record over Fognini, improving to an 11-0 mark in their head-to-head series.
He lost just 10 points on serve and broke the Italian twice from nine opportunities.
There's also second round win for Scot Andy Murray who beat Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-2, 6-1.
In remaining first-round action carried over from a rainy Tuesday, eighth seed Richard Gasquet of France opened his campaign with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sam Querrey of the United States. The Frenchman will face Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, who lost only six points on serve as he dismissed Australian Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-1 in just 48 minutes.
Elsewhere, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria edged past Steve Johnson of the United States 7-5, 6-7 (9), 6-4 while Frenchman Adrian Mannarino overcame a second set slump to beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Enditem
