Hometown favorite Caty McNally overcame Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) on Monday to win a singles match at the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, for the first time.
The 20-year-old, a frequent doubles partner of Coco Gauff, had lost in the first round of her hometown event each of the past three years.
McNally had to fight through leg cramps on her way to securing the 3-hour, 7-minute victory. She grabbed at her left leg in clear pain after her first serve at match point.
When she won the final point, she dropped to the ground and reveled in the celebration before walking over to where her family was seated in the arena.
“It meant a lot,” McNally said of the victory, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Playing in this event has always been a dream of mine, but to actually win, it’s kind of like getting over that hurdle almost. Feels really good. There is no better way to win your first Masters 1000 than at home.”
Ranked No. 179 in the world, McNally upset the world No. 36, Sasnovich, who saved 12 of 16 break points during the marathon match. McNally owned a 6-3 edge in aces and won 44 of her 69 first-service points (63.8 percent).
McNally will face fifth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the second round.
No. 9 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia and No. 13 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada lost during Monday’s early action.
Amanda Anisimova of the United States swept Kasatkina 6-4, 6-4. Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia beat Fernandez 6-4, 7-5.
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic saved a match point in the second-set tiebreaker and outlasted Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3. Teichmann was a finalist at Cincinnati in 2021. Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan had an easier time beating Egypt’s Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2.
Other winners Monday included the United States’ Alison Riske-Amritraj, Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, the Czech Republic’s Tereza Martincova, Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and France’s Caroline Garcia.
In the final WTA match of the night, Sloane Stephens of the United States demolished Alize Cornet of France 6-1, 6-0 in exactly one hour. Stephens won 71 percent of her first-serve points while Cornet finished at 39 percent in that stat.
–Field Level Media
