Unseeded Zhu cruises to victory in Hua Hin decider

China's Zhu Lin defeated Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in straight sets to win the US$250,000 Thailand Open at True Arena Hua Hin Sports Club yesterday.

In a battle between two unseeded players in the final, Zhu came out on top, winning 6-4, 6-4 in nearly two hours.

Zhu broke Tsurenko twice in the first set and did so again three times in the second to claim the Hua Hin singles crown.

Zhu upset seventh-seeded compatriot Wang Xinyu 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Tsurenko reached the final after top seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada pulled out due to right shoulder injury while trailing 0-4 in the second set.

The Ukrainian won the first set 7-5.

In the doubles event, Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien of Taiwan were to face Zhu and Wang for the title last night.

The tournament made a return after being called off for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile Ukraine's Elina Svitolina said that the ban on Russian and Belarusian players competing at Wimbledon must continue after they were excluded from last year's championships.

Wimbledon barred players from the two countries due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a decision which was swiftly condemned by the men's and women's tours as well as Novak Djokovic and Martina Navratilova.

However, Svitolina, the 2019 Wimbledon semi-finalist, said nothing had changed from last year's reason for the ban.

"I hope they will do the same thing and keep the ban in place. I don't think it should change," Svitolina was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"There are still people suffering. The war is still there."