London | WTA Roundup – Action kicks off in Lyon and Hua Hin

Lyon | WTA 250 Open 6éme Sens Métropole de Lyon

Putting the triumphs and disappointments behind them, many of the top player are taking time off but not so, Caroline Garcia, the World No 5, who is the top seed in her home town of Lyon in France.

Action on Monday included the demise of Garcia’s compatriot, Alizé Cornet, the 3rd seed, who became the highest seed to be knocked out in the 1st-round by Camila Osorio from Colombia, 6-4 4-6 6-1, after a 2 hour and 23 minutes contest.

Osorio won despite committing 10 double-faults without delivering a single ace, and she saved 7 of 10 break points while breaking Cornet’s serve 6 times in 16 chances in the match.

Another casualty on Day 1 was former World No 1 Garbiñe Muguruza, who was taken out by 18-year old Linda Noskova, a qualifier from the Czech Republic, 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 13 minutes.

Noskova broke serve in the 2nd and 5th games to close out the first set and, although Muguruza started the second with a break to open up a 3-0 lead, the Czech teenager broke back, saving a a 4th break point, to draw level to 3-3.

A second break in the 9th game sealed Spaniard’s fate as Noskova became the youngest woman in the Top 100 since Coco Gauff held that distinction in October 2019.

In fact, Noskova saved 6 of the 7 break points she faced, and converted 4 of the 6 break points she had on the Spaniard’s serve.

The teenager also won 72% of her first-serve points to Muguruza’s 60%, and 53% of her second-serve points to her opponent’s 44%.

This is the third straight loss this year for Muguruza, who had received a wild-card to play in the French event this week, all in the 1st-round, including the Australian Open.

Noskova will play 6th seed Mayar Sherif after the Egyptian advanced to the 2nd-round after her opponent, Croatian qualifier Ana Konjuh, retired in the match with the score standing at 6-2, 3-2 at the time.

Another Croatian, 4th-seeded Petra Martic, reached the 2nd-round with a 3-6 6-3 7-5 come-back win over French wild-card Kristina Mladenovic after a 2 hour and 14 minute tussle.

Another seeded player who moved into round 2 was the 5th-seeded Anastasia Potapova after the 21-year-old Russian came through against Spanish qualifier Marina Bassols Ribera in 2 hours and 14 minutes, 4-6 6-1 6-2.

Maryna Zanevska defeated Hungary’s Dalma Galfi, 6-1 7-6(3) to reach the round-of-16, and the Belgian now takes on 2nd seed Zhang Shuai from China, who defeated American Madison Brengle, 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday.

Jule Niemeier claimed a 7-5 2-6 6-3 win over Olga Danilovic from Serbia and the German will play Osorio next.

Other Tuesday winners included Russian qualifier Erika Andreeva, after compatriot and 8th seed Anna Blinkova withdrew at 6-7(3) 6-4, 4-0 Retired, and Danka Kovinic, the 7th seed from Montenegro, who was a 6-1 6-4 winner over Swiss Viktorjia Golubic.

Heather Watson upset 2nd-seeded Yulia Putintseva at the WTA 250 event in Thailand, the only Brit of 3 to make the 2nd-round

Hua Hin | WTA 250 Thailand Open presented by E@

Three Brits feature in Thailand, and Heather Watson kicked off her campaign with an upset over No 2 seed Yulia Putintseva after a 3-hour battle on Tuesday.

Despite the Kazakh winning the first set from a set point down and pegging Watson back from 5-1 to 5-4 in the second, as well as from 5-3 to 5-5 in the third, the British No 6 prevailed,  5-7 6-4 7-6(5).

Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter, the British Nos 2 and 3, however, both fell at the first hurdle, Dart to top seeded Canadian Bianca Andreescu, 6-3 6-4, while Boulter battled long and hard but ultimately succumbed to Korea’s Su Jaong Jang, 6-3 4-6 6-3.

Jang needed 2 hours and 39 minutes to get past Boulter, who hit 8 double-faults and won only 28% of her second-serve points, while she also failed to save 7 of the 11 break points she faced.

Zhu Lin of China rallied to upset fellow countrywoman and 3rd seed Wang Xiyu, 4-6 6-3 6-0 in the 1st-round in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Monday, in 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Fresh off her heroics at the Australian Open, Zhu reached a new career-high of No 54 in the WTA rankings and won 68% of her first-serve points to Wang’s 64%.

She also won 57% of her second-serve points and 72% points on return on Wang’s second serve.

In the deciding set, Zhu won 100% points on both her first and second serve – 12 off 12 points played (first and second serves combined).

In that set, she also didn’t face a single break point while, in total, across all 3 sets, Zhu saved 3 of the 6 break points she faced while converting 6 break points on Wang’s serve, and surged ahead by winning the final 9 games of a match.

Seventh-seeded Wang Xinyu, also from China fared better, eliminated Joanne Zuger, a qualifier from Switzerland, 6-2 6-2, while Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund, Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek, South Korea’s Su Jeong Jang and Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko also won their opening matches on Day 1.

Bjorklund defeated Thai wild-card Lanlana Tararudee, 6-2 6-4, while Tsurenko needed 2 hours and 14 minutes to get past Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium, 6-3 4-6 6-4, and will play 4th seed Anna Kalinskaya, who took out Russian qualifier Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1 6-1.

Lastly, Tamara Zidansek also took her place in the 2nd-round after the Slovenian beat Australian qualifier Astra Sharma, 6-3 6-3, in 71 minutes, and her next opponent will be 8th seed Linda Fruhvirtova, the 17-year old Czech dispatching American wild-card Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3 6-1.

On Tuesday, former champ Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine survived Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, 6-3 6-7(3) 6-2.

The 2019 champion led by a break 4 times in the second set, and served for the match at 6-5, but then needed three sets to advance.