WTA Cincinnati: Yuan Yue secures her fourth consecutive victory over Schneider, advancing to the tournament's round of 32.

On August 9, 2025, local time, the second round of the women's singles at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati tournament commenced. Chinese player Yuan Yue continued her "lucky journey," battling through three sets to defeat the 14th seed Schneider with scores of 6-4, 1-6, and 6-3, marking her fourth career win against this opponent, all in three sets.

Yuan Yue

Photo by Li Jianyi

In this tournament, Yuan Yue was defeated by local player Ngounou in the final round of qualifying. Before the first round, WTA 1000 Montreal champions Mbogu and Naomi Osaka both opted out of this tournament. These two players were originally granted a first-round bye due to their advancement to the finals in the previous tournament, resulting in four lucky losers entering the main draw of the Cincinnati tournament.

Lucky to qualify, Yuan Yue easily defeated Spanish player Bouchard in the first round with a score of 6-2, 6-2. Facing an opponent against whom she had previously won three matches in a row, Yuan Yue seized the opportunity and triumphed after a fierce battle lasting 1 hour and 53 minutes, proudly advancing to the round of 32. After the match, Yuan Yue remarked, "After winning yesterday, I was thinking it would be nice to have another day off, as it’s been a while since I won a match at a 1000 event. I thought it would be great to have a day to really enjoy this feeling of victory, but now it’s also quite good; I can relax a bit mentally tomorrow."

Next, Yuan Yue will face Romanian veteran Costea, who also fought through three sets to eliminate the 22nd seed Frech with a score of 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. Looking ahead to this match, Yuan Yue joked, "I’m just living for today, I’ll think about the next round tomorrow!"

Sabalenka

Photo by Visual China

World No. 1 Sabalenka made her first appearance after Wimbledon, defeating Vondrousova with scores of 7-5, 6-1, avenging her loss earlier this year at the WTA Berlin tournament. In the third round, she will face the 30th seed Raducanu, who easily defeated Danilovic with a score of 6-3, 6-2. The 3rd seed Swiatek defeated Potapova with scores of 6-1, 6-4 and will compete against the 25th seed Kostyuk, who swept T. Maria with a score of 6-0, 6-1. Former tournament champion and 6th seed Keys overcame a 0-3 deficit in the final set and saved two match points to reverse her match against Lis, winning 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(1). She will face Japanese player Ito Aoi, who eliminated the 27th seed Pavlyuchenkova with scores of 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

Other match results

Bosas Manero 6-3, 6-3 Fernandez [21]

[W] Townsend 6-2, 6-4 Samsonova [13]

[9] Rybakina 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 Zarazua

[19] Mertens 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 Ngounou [Q]

[12] Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2 Sun Lulu

Jovent 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Maya [18]

[28] Kalinskaya 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1 Stearns

[5] Anisimova W/O Zhang Zhang [Q] (retired)

At 0:30 AM Beijing time tomorrow, Wang Xinyu will appear on center court, challenging the tournament's 2nd seed Gauff. The two have faced each other twice before, with each winning once; the most recent encounter was at the WTA Berlin tournament, where the Chinese player emerged victorious.

(Written and edited by: Dato)