Kulichkova Passes Taiwan Test
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Elizaveta Kulichkova showed why she was one to watch at the Taiwan Open, fighting her way out of a dangerous deficit to advance past Taiwanese wildcard Ya-Hsuan Lee, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Named by WTA Insider as part of Russia’s “Generation Next,” Kulichkova entered the tournament following some of the best results of her young career: at the Australian Open, she reached the 3rd round of a Grand Slam for the first time, dealing No.25 Andrea Petkovic an upset along the way.
In Kaohsiung, Kulichkova found herself in big trouble against Lee – the Russian dropped the first set and was actually down 0-3 in the second – before she found a way to play herself into the match.
“I didn’t play my best today so I didn’t feel so comfortable on court,” Kulichkova told wtatennis.com after her win.
“I just try to concentrate on my game, keep bringing back all the balls, and then I could come back eventually.”
Also coming back to advance into the second round is Donna Vekic, who notched her first WTA-level win of the year against Alison Riske in a seesaw match, 4-6, 7-5(5), 6-3.
The Croatian found herself four points away from defeat in the second set; Riske was serving for the match at 6-4, 6-5, before Vekic broke her serve at love to force a tiebreak before grabbing the set. Vekic hit nine aces to Riske’s 12 double faults in the two hour and forty minute-encounter.
The win was a boon for Vekic, who is now working with new coach David Felgate. The pair reunited before last month’s Australian Open after splitting in 2014.
Local favorite Su-Wei Hsieh survived a mid-match surge from Japan’s Ayama Okuno but advanced 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva, Zarina Diyas, Saisai Zheng and Kurumi Nara are all through to the second round while Naomi Osaka – who was looking to follow up her incredible Australian Open run – fell to Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella in straight sets.
No.1 seed Venus Williams will wrap up the Taiwan Open’s first round action when she takes the court against Taiwanese wildcard Pei-Chi Lee tomorrow.
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