Maranchaya Sawangkaew breezes past Zarina Diyas in straight sets

Maranchaya Sawangkaew defeated Zarina Diyas 6-2, 6-3, in the first round of the China Open. Her first serve proved to be her strongest asset as she won 76 percent of her first serve points.

At age 30, Kazakhstan’s Diyas had the upper hand in experience. She has been playing professionally since 2007 and has one WTA title from the Japan Open in 2017. Going into today’s match, her tournament record for the year was 6-6.

Sawangkaew, from Thailand, is just 22 years old, but she has played far more tournament matches than Diyas this year. In 2024, she holds a record of 36-22 with one ITF title but none in WTA events.

After losing the first two games, Sawangkaew took control of the first set and won the next six games. Diyas wore her emotions on her sleeve, audibly celebrating her points won and slouching after lost points. On the other side of the net, Sawangkaew remained calm and consistent, her only visible emotion being occasional fist pumps.

The second set began with Sawangkaew’s double faults helping Diyas find her way back in. The Thai woman had four double faults in the set, with three of them coming in her first two service games. But, her first serve was overpowering, winning nine of her 11 first serves in the set. Down 3-2, Sawangkaew went on to win the final four games of the match.

Sawangkaew will have her hands full in the second round, facing off against No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka.

—Reporting by Ryan Loomer