Eighth-seeded American Alison Riske saved five of seven break points on Sunday while posting a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Germany’s Mona Barthel in the first round of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament.
Riske needed just 69 minutes to advance. Barthel had a 5-0 edge in aces but also committed four double faults to Riske’s one.
Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy outlasted Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Paolini didn’t have an ace or double fault while Yastremska had seven aces and five double faults.
In other matches, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus knocked off France’s Fiona Ferro 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; while China’s Saisai Zheng registered a 6-4, 6-1 win over France’s Clara Burel.
The top four seeds for the event are U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, Simona Halep of Romania, Danielle Collins of the United States and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia. All four have first-round byes.
–Field Level Media
