No. 6 seed Yuan Yue came back from down 3-0 in the second set to win the last six games of the match and defeat former world No. 1 Simona Halep on Monday in the opening round of the Hong Kong Open.
But the 29-year-old late bloomer found a way back into the match and rattled off the next four games to book her second-round spot.
Coco Gauff started her quest for a maiden Australian Open title with a straight games win over Kamilla Rakhimova to reach the second round.
Iga Swiatek has dismissed suggestions the career slam is driving her Australian Open campaign this year, with the world number two saying on Friday that she tries to block out outside noise and focus only on "grinding match by match".
With the players then facing a quick turnaround ahead of the Indian Wells main draw beginning on Wednesday, Pegula offered to fly all of them to California for the WTA 1000 tournament.
Yuan broke Stephens when the American was serving for the match at 6-5. Stephens led 5-4 in the tie-break but could not hold on to her advantage and crashed out.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park in Melbourne on Thursday.
American lucky loser Reilly Opelka put up an intense battle to stun top seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5), 7-6(5) and reach the semi-finals in Den Bosch on Friday.
No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus had little trouble getting past China's Qinwen Zheng in a group-stage match at the WTA Finals on Saturday, prevailing 6-3, 6-4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
World number three Elena Rybakina overcame Cristina Bucsa in two hard-fought sets to make the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International on Wednesday, while Jessica Pegula and Jelena Ostapenko had to work even harder to make the last eight.
Romania's Ana Bogdan advanced the quarterfinals of the Japan Open with a 6-0, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 4 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic on Thursday in Osaka.
Top-seeded Diana Shnaider breezed past Australia's Priscilla Hon 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinal round at the Hong Kong Tennis Open on Wednesday.
Holger Rune rallied from a set down and saved a match point to defeat former champion Taylor Fritz 2-6 7-6(2) 6-3 on Wednesday and reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals where he will meet fourth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Images from the US Open women's singles second round matches, at Flushing Meadows, New York, on Wednesday.
Images from Day 1 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
IMAGES from Day 1 of all the action from the Wimbledon Championships played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Monday.
Brady was sidelined by knee and foot injuries since the summer of 2021
Despite the relaxation of the one-child policy in 2016, the number of live births per 1,000 people fell to a record low of 10.48 in 2019, down from 10.94 in 2018.
To rise quickly in the PLA's hierarchy, you need to be close to Xi Jinping. Retired RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade on the changes in China's military leadership.
