Ajla Tomljanovic managed to keep the dangerous 19-year-old Marina Stakusic at bay for the better part of a set and a half until she yielded a late service break at the end of the second to finish deadlocked at one-set all. To her credit, she got back right into the game with no hesitation and lifted her play when it mattered most, as she dominated proceedings in the third to power home 6-4 5-7 6-0.

Ajla: “Tough match, tough conditions. She’s a great player so it wasn’t easy, but I managed to get ahead early in the third. I really want to go check out some restaurants here, so I hope it’s going to be a long week for me.”

Nao Hibino, playing with a lot more purpose and aggression, jumped on Clara Burel right from the get go, breaking the No. 2 seed’s first two service games on her way to a 6-2 opening set. After exchanging a pair of breaks early on in the second set, Burel saves two match points to hold for 6-6 to force a tiebreak.

Burel double faulted to trail 6-4 but ripped an inside-out forehand winner to save another MP to get back to 6-5. However, Nibino cracked a backhand towards the in-coming Burel and the No. 2 seed volleyed wide to go down 6-2 7-6(5).

Varvara Gracheva was surprisingly whitewashed in the opening set against qualifier Ma Ye-Xin, but made amends by out-hitting her opponent in the second and third to win 0-6 6-1 6-2. She will next face Hailey Baptiste for a quarterfinal spot.

Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand produced five service breaks to come from a set down to beat American Alycia Parks, who had won the WTA 125 Warsaw and Gaiba earlier this year, 5-7 6-3 6-4.

Despite the ranking discrepancy between Eudice Chong and world No. 65 McCartney Kessler, the Hong Kong No. 1 went toe-to-toe with the WTA 250 Cleveland titlist in a scintillating display of backcourt hitting. However, the American was able to convert 5 of 7 break point opportunities to prevail 6-3 6-4 and she will next face Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew for a quarterfinal spot.

Kessler: “Both sets were tight till the end. I just tried to focus on each point. I haven’t looked at the draw, so I don’t know exactly who I’m playing next yet, but I’ll try to prepare the best I can.”

Chong: “I had chances today but just wasn’t able to capitalise on them. Knowing that I need to be more aggressive to be competitive, but with more experience playing against these top 100 opponents will definitely improve my game.”

World No. 111 Hailey Baptiste of USA saved 7 of 8 break points and broke Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain four times to progress to round two with a 7-5 6-1 victory. World No. 78 Anna Blinkova eased past qualifier Peangtarn Plipuech in straight sets 6-1 6-2 and will face either Simona Halep or Arina Rodionova next up.

Nineteen-year-old phenom Linda Fruhvirtova came back strong and broke her opponent three times to take the second set, but it was the veteran, Varvara Lepchenko, once ranked as high as No. 12, who fought from 5-4 down in the third to complete the 6-3 3-6 7-5 victory.

World No. 93 Elena Gabriela Ruse took the opening set against Wang Qiang without the loss of a single game. Despite the tentative start, Wang, the two-time Asian Games and All China Games women’s singles gold medalist, broke back temporarily to lead 4-2 before the Romanian pulled away for a 6-0 6-4 victory.

Last time Wang Qiang played in Hong Kong, she reached the final of the WTA 250 and ended that year ranked No. 20. She peaked at No. 12 after reaching the 2019 US Open quarterfinal. The 15th National Games will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao from November 9 to 21, 2025. She is still the two-time defending women’s singles champion after defeating Zhang Shuai to win in Tianjin in 2017 and accounting for Zheng Saisai in the final in Shaanxi in 2021.

Wang: “I am very happy to come to Hong Kong again after 2018. I didn’t start all that well today. I made some adjustments in the second set but my opponent was very consistent. It was a pity to lose today’s match. I still have a couple of tournaments this year in Osaka and Tokyo, and then this season is over. Since my ranking has dropped now, I’ll have to wait and see if there are any tournaments that I can get in next year.”

On Wednesday, world No. 8 Emma Navarro; Two-time Grand Slam champion, Simona Halep; and nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Hsieh Su-Wei, will be making their appearance at this year’s Prudential Hong Kong Tennis 125 for the very first time.