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Svitolina had been outspoken in the wake of Russia's military
invasion of Ukraine, announcing she would refuse to play a
Russian or Belarusian opponent unless the tennis hierarchy moved
to strike the nationality of those players.
The ATP Tour, WTA Tour, International Tennis Federation and the
governing bodies sanctioning the four Grand Slam events issued a
joint statement Tuesday, suspending Russian and Belarusian teams
from international tournaments but allowing individual players
to compete without their national flags and with their
nationalities not acknowledged.
Svitolina, who is ranked 15th in the world, then agreed to play
against Potapova, who is ranked 115th. The match lasted just
over an hour, with Svitolina saving all three break points she
faced.
"I'm in a very sad mood, but I'm happy that I'm here, playing
tennis here," Svitolina told the crowd postmatch. "It's so nice
to play in front of you."
Elsewhere in the event, the United States' Sloane Stephens
withdrew shortly before she was due to play her opening match.
Stephens had just won the title at Guadalajara, Mexico, on
Sunday, her first tournament championship in nearly four years.
Croatia's Petra Martic upset third-seeded Madison Keys of the
United States 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3, and China's Xinyu Wang beat
eighth-seeded Ann Li of the United States 6-2, 6-1. Other
winners included sixth-seeded Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain,
China's Qiang Wang and Qinwen Zhang, the Czech Republic's Marie
Bouzkova and Egypt's Mayar Sherif.
Open 6eme Sens Metropole
Four days after fleeing her native Ukraine amid Russia's
invasion, Dayana Yastremska won a three-hour, five-minute
thriller over Romania's Ana Bogdan, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7) in the
first round in Lyon, France.
"This win, compared to what's going on in my country, is
nothing," Yastremska said after saving two match points and 11
of 16 overall break points to keep her match going.
France's Caroline Garcia earned a big upset on her home turf
Tuesday, taking down No. 1 seed Camila Giorgi of Italy 5-7, 6-4,
6-0. A Lyon resident, Garcia capitalized on Giorgi's 12 double
faults, saved four of six break points and broke Giorgi's serve
five times in six opportunities.
Other winners were second seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania,
seventh seed Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, eighth seed Shuai
Zhang of China, Tamara Korpatsch of Germany, Martina Trevisan of
Italy and Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.
--Field Level Media
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