Ekaterina Alexandrova put an exclamation mark on Day 1 of the Dongfeng · Voyah Wuhan Open, besting Victoria Mboko in straight sets in what was billed as a potential first-round blockbuster.
Wuhan: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Instead, the No. 9 seed rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 victory Monday in 1 hour and 20 minutes in a match that proved less competitive than the scoreline suggests. It serves as a promising start for Alexandrova, who has enjoyed a breakout season but struggled at times in WTA 1000 events.
Her goal now? To extend her stay in Wuhan by stringing together as many wins as she can.
“I really enjoy my time here,” Alexandrova said after the match. “I’d like to do my best to stay as long as possible. I don’t know how long that can be, but I don’t know, I really like it here.”
She also thanked the fans who stayed past 11 p.m. local time to see the match through, despite the ongoing Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.
“I really appreciate that you stayed here tonight,” she said. “Thank you so much guys, and happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you all.”
To her credit, Alexandrova appeared intent on finishing the match quickly. The 30-year-old won the first five games and served for the opening set at 5-1 before Mboko broke to narrow the gap. Alexandrova regrouped, nipped the rally in the bud, and promptly closed out the set in her next service game.
It was the same-story, different-set in the second, as Alexandrova again jumped out to a 5-1 lead. This time, she was able to seal the deal in her first chance to serve out the match, culminating with an ace that advanced her to the second round in Wuhan.
The victory marked just her fourth opening-match win in nine WTA 1000 events this season. However, it was also her fifth win in her last six matches against WTA 1000 champions at WTA 1000 events, dating back to her upset of Iga Swiatek in Miami last year.
For Mboko, after winning the Canadian Open on home soil in Montreal, she has since lost three consecutive matches at the WTA level for the first time in her career.
Best of the rest
Katerina Siniakova became the first player to knock out a seed in Wuhan, defeating No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour and 32 minutes earlier in the day.
With the victory, the doubles legend earned her fourth top 20 win of 2025, after advancing through qualifying just to reach the main draw. She’ll face rising star Maya Joint in the second round. The 19-year-old Australian outlasted home favorite Zhu Lin in a match highlighted by a marathon second-set tiebreak.
Zhu, ranked No. 215 in the world, played inspired tennis on home soil, taking leads in both sets. She saved four match points and held one set point in the tiebreak but ultimately fell on the fifth match point she faced.
Chinese players went 1-2 in first-round action on Day 1. A third, Wang Xiyu, bowed out in the final round of qualifying earlier in the day, falling to Moyuka Uchijima. Uchijima followed it up with a first-round win over another Chinese player, 2024 semifinalist Wang Xinyu. Yuan Yue was the lone Chinese winner, defeating Lucia Bronzetti in straight sets in a match featuring two tiebreaks. She’ll face another Italian, Jasmine Paolini, in the second round.
Uchijima is set to face Coco Gauff next.
The only other seed in action Monday was No. 10 seed Clara Tauson, who defeated Olga Danilovic 6-3, 7-5 in just under two hours. Tauson will meet Antonia Ruzic in the second round after the Croatian upset Magda Linette.