France's Garcia rolls in second round at Charleston

[April 04, 2018]  Top-seeded Caroline Garcia of France dropped serve just once in defeating Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday in the second round of the WTA's Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C.

Garcia overcame 22 unforced errors in breezy conditions by hitting 22 winners.

"It definitely was a bit tricky at the end," Garcia said. "It was very windy so it was very difficult to have good rhythm on every shot, but I'm happy with my first match on clay."

Lepchenko committed 28 unforced errors, lost serve four times and failed to convert on two break points.

"It was close in a couple of games and I was able to be a bit more aggressive and do some good points in important moments," Garcia said.

Next up for the world's seventh-ranked player is the winner of the second-round match between 14th-seeded Alize Cornet of France and Slovenia's Polona Hercog.

Three other seeds also advanced Tuesday in first-round action.

Ninth-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia defeated Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-3, 6-2; No. 13 seed Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania ousted Spain's Georgina Garcia Perez 6-3, 6-4; and 16th seed Elena Vesnina of Russia outlasted American Madison Brengle 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in an hour and 44 minutes.

Vesnina, a two-time runner-up in the tournament, finished with 31 winners and 31 unforced errors but broke serve nine times, including the final game.

"Madison is a tough player, always running and moving. She's a fighter to the end, so I'm happy I won the final set," Vesnina said. "I was a little bit off in the second, but she played really well."

Two other matches went to a third set.

Spain's Lara Arruabarrena defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 when the Brazilian was forced to retire, and American Claire Liu ousted Poland's Magda Linette 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Americans Kristie Ahn and Taylor Townsend moved on in straight sets.

 

Ahn defeated Australia's Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open winner, 6-2, 6-4. Townsend defeated Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4.

Ahn said she drew inspiration from NCAA champion Danielle Collins, who upset Venus Williams en route to the Miami Open semifinals last week.

"Danielle and I went to college all four years, and that can make a difference mentally, where you start thinking, 'What do I do now?'" Ahn told the Tennis Channel. "But I tried to channel my inner Collins today.

"I went in just trying to enjoy it. Obviously Sam's a great competitor and great champion, so I had nothing to lose. I just wanted to stick to the game plan, and I think it worked pretty well."

In other matches, Kristyna Pliskova defeated Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-1 in a matchup between Czechs, Germany's Tatjana Maria beat American Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-0, and Italy's Sara Errani downed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 6-4, 6-4. Daria Kasatkina of Russia got past American Christina McHale 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Abierto GNP Segueros

Top-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain needed just 49 minutes to dispatch Mexico's Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-1 in the first round at Monterrey, Mexico.

American Danielle Collins, fresh off her Miami semifinal appearance, routed Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino 6-1, 6-3, but Americans Nicole Gibbs, Jewel Peterson and Usue Maitane Arconada all fell in the opening round.

Fourth-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary defeated Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4, while fifth-seeded Monica Puig of Puerto Rico knocked out Gibbs 6-3, 6-3.

--Field Level Media

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