This week, the women’s Tour begins cranking up to the build-up of the season-ending finals after the completion of the US Open at the weekend, with a WTA 500 tournament in Mexico and a WTA 250 in Tunisia, both on hard courts, while 2 WTA 125s take place in Romania and Slovenia on clay.
Guadalajara | WTA 500 Guadalajara Open Akron presented by Santander
Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki upset 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, 6-4 6-3, on Monday, and moves into a 2nd-round contest with another American, No 2 seed Danielle Collins, who receives a 1st-round bye.
7th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova from Russia beat Sachia Vickery, a lucky loser from the US, 6-4 6-4,
Vickery, ranked No 160 in the world, hit 5 aces but also committed 6 double-faults, while Kudermetova saved 5 of 8 break points, and converted all 5 of her chances to break the American’s serve.
Kudermetova advances to meet Camila Osorio, the 22-year-old Colombian who eased past America’s Hailey Baptiste, 6-3 6-2.
Local favourite Renata Zarazua scored a 6-1 3-6 6-1 win over Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, while Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova advanced to face No 3 seed Victoria Azarenka from Belarus, with a 7-5 6-0 victory over Aleksandra Krunic from Serbia.
Latvian top seed Jelena Ostapenko, who is coming off a US Open doubles title win with Lyudmyla Kichenok from Ukraine following her 1st-round loss to Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the singles draw, is action on Wednesday.
The Guadalajara Open is a hardcourt 500-level event on the WTA Tour this season, and is being played at the Complejo Panamericano de Tenis.
Britain’s Lily Miyazaki had a match point in the second set but needed 3 to get past Alycia Parks in Tunisia on Monday
Monastir | WTA 250 Jasmin Open by Lilas
Britain’s Lily Miyazaki led Alycia Parks by a set and 3-1 in the 1st-round of the Jasmin Open, and held her first match point at 5-4 in the second set, but, ultimately, needed 3 sets to make it into the 2nd round, 6-3 5-7 6-3.
Two Frenchwomen, Clara Burel and Diane Parry, had little trouble advancing to the 2nd-round on Monday in Monastir, Tunisia.
Burel, the No 2 seed, defeated Spain’s Marina Bassols Ribera, 6-2 6-2, in 1st-round action, firing 7 aces, converting 5 of 7 break points, and saving 5 of the 6 break points she faced.
Parry, the 3rd seed, defeated Tunisia’s Chiraz Bechri, 6-3 6-0, in one hour flat, converting 5 of 6 break points en route to winning the final 9 games of the match.
Anna Blinkova did not have it so easy, as Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo upset the Russian, 6-4 6-4, after the No 8 seed scored a mere 18 of her 38 first-service points, 47.4%.
Other first-round winners included Germany’s Eva Lys, a 6-3 7-5 winner over America’s Lesia Tsurenko, and Japan’s Mai Hontama, who dispatched wild-card Priska Nugroho from India, 6-2 6-1.
