Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Wednesday survived in her return to hard courts in the Cincinnati Open, outlasting Varvara Gracheva 6-0, 6-7 (8/10), 6-2.
Playing for the first time since finishing third for Poland at the Paris Olympics on clay, Swiatek set up a third-round match against Marta Kostyuk — a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Lulu Sun.
“For sure, the transition is probably the hardest, from like the slowest surface to the fastest surface, but that’s why I’m still happy with my performance, and looking forward to another match to kind of still do the grinding and implement what I was working on, but not really focusing on the results,” Swiatek said.
Photo: AFP
Swiatek won her third straight French Open title in May and has six WTA Tour victories this season.
Earlier, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat 11th seed Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2.
Andreeva was playing her first match since taking a silver medal in doubles in Paris.
“I just went out there, tried to show my best level, and tried to win a match, and I think I did it,” said Andreeva, who faces 2016 Cincinnati champion Karolina Pliskova in the next round.
On the men’s side in the US Open tuneup event, top-ranked Jannik Sinner got past American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 7-5 in his first match.
Sinner improved to 25-2 on hard courts this season and advanced to a third-round meeting with Australia’s Jordan Thompson.
Sinner is trying to reach the quarter-finals in Cincinnati for the first time.
Thompson defeated Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-4, while Jiri Lehecka upset Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, in his first tournament since announcing he would no longer be coached by his father, rallied to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Barranquilla Open
Staff writer
Liang En-shuo of Taiwan on Wednesday exited at the Barranquilla Open in Colombia, defeated in straight sets in the round-of-16 by Solana Sierra.
Argentina’s Sierra won 6-4, 6-2 at the US$115,000 WTA125 event at the Parque Distrital de Raquetas.
Liang and partner Prarthana Thombare of India are to play in the doubles today against the US’ Quinn Gleason and Ingrid Martins of Brazil.
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