Prior to the unfortunate injury to Crawford, No. 7 seed Xiyu Wang of China created the biggest buzz of the day's action, surprising top seed Anastasia Potapova 6-1, 6-2, to end the Russian's ITF junior winning streak, which stretched back to June, at 16.
The two 15-year-olds had met twice before, back in late 2013 and early 2014 at the Junior Orange Bowl 12s semifinals and Les Petits As third round, with Potapova winning both in straight sets. Wang, who speaks little English, said she was ready for this meeting, and was not overjoyed by the win over the ITF No. 1 and reigning Wimbledon girls champion, calling it "normal."
Wang, a tall left-hander, hit with great power and depth, but usually that style doesn't pose any problem for Potapova. On this day, however, Potapova was making bunches of unforced errors, while Wang continued to tee off on Potapova's second serves, hitting one winner after another.
After a first set to forget, Potapova was broken serving at 2-3 in the second. The expected comeback may have hinged on Wang's next service game, when she saved two break points to consolidate the break. In the last game, Potapova's return game totally deserted her, failing to get the ball in play three times, the last when she netted a return at 40-15.
"My body is stronger, my fitness is better," Wang said through a translator, describing the reasons she was able to reverse the previous outcomes. "My serve is very good, I think, and was good today."