WTA roundup: Boulter earns upset win at Citi Open

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[July 31, 2018]    Great Britain's Katie Boulter pulled off the upset of the day in Washington, beating fifth-seeded Serbian Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-0 on Monday in the first round of the Citi Open.

Britain's Katie Boulter serves during her second round match against Japan's Naomi Osaka. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Boulter, 21, is ranked 118th in the world. She plays mostly on the second-tier ITF circuit, though she did earn a first-round win at Wimbledon this summer before falling to 18th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan.

Allie Kiick was the only one of three Americans in action Monday who advanced. Kiick defeated China's Xinyun Han 6-2, 6-3. Germany's Andrea Petkovic blew out American Jamie Loeb 6-1, 6-1, and Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova eased past American Kristie Ahn 6-2, 6-1. Kuznetsova, 33, won the 2004 U.S. Open and the 2009 French Open.

Hungary's Fanny Stollar defeated Japan's Mayo Hibi 6-1, 7-6 (6). The last match of the evening was suspended due to rain with sixth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland leading Great Britain's Harriet Dart 7-5, 4-1.

Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

Belarus' Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Grand Slam champion looking to regain her top form, pulled out a tight victory in the first round at San Jose, Calif.

Azarenka edged Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-7 (7), 7-5 in 2 hours, 43 minutes.

After giving birth to a son in December 2016, Azarenka missed most of last season, in part due to a custody battle. She is currently ranked 108th in the world, with her only impressive result this year a semifinal appearance at Miami.

In other first-round action, Danielle Collins defeated Danielle Lao 7-6 (2), 6-3 in a battle of Americans, and American Sofia Kenin topped Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg 6-4, 6-4.

Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic and Greece's Maria Sakkari also advanced.

--Field Level Media

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