Frenchwomen Clara Burel and Diane Parry had little trouble advancing to the second round of the Jasmin Open Tunisia on Monday in Monastir, Tunisia.
No. 2 seed Burel defeated Spain’s Marina Bassols Ribera 6-2, 6-2 in first-round action. Burel fired seven aces, converted 5 of 7 break points and saved 5 of 6 break points she faced.
Parry, the third seed, defeated Tunisia’s Chiraz Bechri 6-3, 6-0 in an hour flat. Parry converted 5 of 6 break points en route to winning the final nine games of the match.
No. 8 seed Anna Blinkova of Russia didn’t have it so easy. Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain upset her 6-4, 6-4, with Blinkova winning a mere 18 of 38 first-service points (47.4 percent).
Other first-round winners included Germany’s Eva Lys, Great Britain’s Yuriko Miyazaki and Japan’s Mai Hontama.
Guadalajara Open Akron
No. 7 seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia took down American opponent Sachia Vickery 6-4, 6-4 to open the WTA 500 tournament in Mexico.
The upstart Vickery, ranked No. 160 in the world, hit five aces but also committed six double faults. Kudermetova saved 5 of 8 break points and converted all five of her chances to break Vickery’s serve.
In another loss by a U.S. player, Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki defeated Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-3. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, fell in the first round of a fourth consecutive tournament, including this year’s U.S. Open.
Also winning first-round matches were Colombia’s Camila Osorio, Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova and Mexico’s Renata Zarazua.
–Field Level Media
