The stubborn Tomova fends off match points in Wuhan

Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova, 29, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after overcoming four match points against her in a frantic second-set tiebreak to beat young American Ashlyn Krueger in Wuhan overnight.

On the second day of the WTA Tour 1000 event, the world number 48 bounced back from 3-6 down in the second set tiebreak – she then suffered a fourth match point after a draw – before losing that set finished 10:8 in the tiebreak. She won the final set 7-5 after being completely eliminated following a 1-6 loss in the first set.

Tomova became the 61st person in 2024 to come back with at least one match point and win. She defeated her talented 20-year-old opponent to secure a spot in the second round. But to win a WTA Tour, Tomova needed two hours and 34 minutes to seal the deal and advance to the round of 32.

Tomova won 60 and 40 percent of her first and second serve points, respectively, and although she committed six double faults for two aces, she was mostly credited with Kreuger's miss on serve. The American made seven aces but also 16 double faults in an error-filled and costly match.

In total, the players had 27 break chances, with Tomova managing six breaks and Krueger seven, while earning nearly identical points for the game (121-120 in Tomova's favor). The Bulgarian now faces the red-hot Coco Gauff, although the fourth-placed has been well rested since winning the title in Beijing last week.

There was no shortage of first round matches played overnight, with young Russian Mirra Andreeva defeating local hope Xiyu Wang 7-6, 6-3 to set up a Round of 32 clash with her older sister Erika prepared. Italian lucky loser Lucia Bronzetti stepped in for Paula Badosa and defeated Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, who won a 125cc title in Hong Kong.

A trio of other Russians, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Veronika Kudermetova and Kamilla Rakhimova, all won their respective competitions, while Poland's Magda Linette defeated Liudmila Samsonova. Other winners included Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, Romanian wildcard Jaqueline Cristian and American Amanda Anisimova.