Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian on Tuesday defeated American McCartney Kessler, 6-7 (6/8) 6-0 6-3, in the first round of the Wuhan Open WTA 1,000 tournament, prize money USD 3,654,963.
Cristian, 27, world number 48, won after two hours and 33 minutes.
In the first set, Kessler, 26, world number 33, led 3-0, but then the Romanian won five games in a row. Cristian missed two set points at 6-5, and then it reached a tiebreak, where the American won 8-6. Cristian won the second set to nil, and in the decider he managed a first break at 3-3, ending on the opponent's serve.
The two players previously met once, in the first round of the Madrid Open 2024 qualifiers, when Cristian won 7-6 (7/4) 6-4.
In Wuhan so far, Cristian won USD 23,450 and 65 WTA singles points, and in the second round she will face eighth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Rybakina, 26, world number 9 WTA, is 2-1 in the head-to-head matchup against Cristian, after winning 6-1 6-0 in 2019 in the round of 16 in Bucharest Open, and in August 2025, in the third round of the National Bank Open in Montreal, Canada, 6-0 7-6 (7/5). Cristian won in February 2022, in the first round in Qatar Open, 6-4 6-3.
Also on Tuesday, compatriot Sorana Cirstea will play Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.
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