Katarzyna Kawa advanced to the second round of the WTA 125 tournament in Huzhou on Tuesday, beating Carol Zhao 6:2, 6:1 in 68 minutes after a second-set interruption that lasted nearly 10 minutes.
The third-seeded Kawa, 33, won the disputed game and then the next three games to finish off Zhao, a former junior Australian Open doubles champion. Zhao asked for the intervention of the tournament supervisor during the second set after disputing a call, but Kawa kept control and closed out the match without dropping a set.
The result mattered because Kawa arrived in China after a busy run through Turkey, Colombia, Gliwice, Oeiras and Madrid, where she lost a three-set match to Nikola Bartunkova a week earlier. She had already done enough to secure Wimbledon qualifying, and a title in Huzhou could send her back to around 130th in the world, a lift after a stretch in which she has been collecting points on several fronts.
Kawa’s route to Huzhou also cut against the path taken by many players who left Madrid for WTA 125 stops in Saint-Malo or La Bisbal D'Emporda. She chose China instead, and the move has already paid off with one of her sharper wins of the season. The Polish player, who represents BKT Advantage Bielsko-Biała, will next face either Alewtina Ibragimova or Han Shi in the second round.
For Zhao, the afternoon turned into a test of composure that she could not finish on her terms. For Kawa, it was another straight path through a difficult draw and a reminder that a long calendar can still produce a clean result when the chance comes. If she keeps winning in Huzhou, the ranking payoff could be immediate.
