Playing on the same court where she celebrated her only victory after returning from a doping ban, Simona Halep fell in straight sets to sixth seed Yuan Yue, losing 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Hong Kong Tennis Open.
As Halep struggled to find her footing, tallying 19 unforced errors that outweighed her 17 winners, the world No. 45 Yuan hit 22 winners and made only 12 unforced errors. Despite a shaky start to the second set, the Chinese quickly regained her form and closed out the match decisively, winning six consecutive games from 3-0 down to earn a spot in the second round of the WTA 250 tournament.