Barty Tomljanovic through to second round of US Open
Australia’s Ash Barty and Ajla Tomljanovic both made relatively light work of their opening US Open matches to progress to the second round on Tuesday (Wednesday morning AEST).
World No.1 Barty was made to sweat for a 6-1 7-6 (9-7) win over Vera Zvonareva.
The top-seeded Queenslander came out firing on all cylinders and raced to a 3-0 lead in a rapid-fire opening set that was over in 24 minutes.
But what looked to be a straightforward afternoon for Barty turned tense in a grinding second set which the 36-year-old Zvonareva forced to a tie-breaker before falling 9-7.
Barty has won five tournaments this season, including a second career grand slam at Wimbledon and her US Open tune-up in Cincinnati.
In between those two victories, however, the 25-year-old threw in a dismal performance when she was booted out of the opening round of the Tokyo Olympics by 48th-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Zvonareva is a former US Open and Wimbledon runner-up but her best results came more than a decade ago and the injury-ravaged Russian has had spotty performances at slams ever since, not advancing past the second round of any major since 2014.
Ashleigh Barty returns the ball to Vera Zvonareva during their first round encounter at the US Open.Credit:Getty Images
She embraced her moment back on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, refusing to wave the white flag after a lopsided opening set.
In the end Barty’s all-court game and power proved too much for her, with the Australian laying down 11 aces and firing 31 winners compared to nine by her opponent.
Tomljanovic, meanwhile, cruised past American Katie Volynets in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to set up a date with 30th seed Petra Martić, of Croatia, in round two. Martić beat qualifier Dalma Gálfi in straight sets.
Tomljanovic cruised through 6-3, 6-1 to set up a date with 30th seed Petra Martić, of Croatia, in round two. Martić beat qualifier Dalma Gálfi in straight sets.
Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic cruised through her round one match against American Katie Volynets.Credit:Getty Images
World No.4 Karolina Pliskova fired off eight aces to defeat American wildcard Caty McNally 6-3, 6-4 as the Czech bids for an elusive maiden major.
Pliskova, the 2016 runner-up, built up a 5-1 lead in the first set before her 19-year-old opponent settled her nerves.
McNally, who made it to the third round at Flushing Meadows a year ago, bounced back to level the score at 3-3, but could not match Pliskova’s power as the Czech closed out the match with a pair of aces.
“I started really well then lost my focus a little bit at the end of the first set,†said Pliskova, who lost to world No.1 Ash Barty in the Wimbledon final earlier this year.
Britain’s teen sensation Emma Raducanu also advanced, beating Swiss Stefanie Vögele in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
Emma Raducanu was a first round winner against Stefanie Vögele.Credit:Getty Images
Olympic gold medallist and Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic rolled past Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 in just 90 minutes.
In the men’s draw, Alexander Zverev opened his bid for a second US Open final appearance with a win. He needed only 1 hour, 40 minutes to beat Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.
Zverev won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is one of three players with four titles this season. The German knocked off top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Games.
Belgian 27th seed David Goffin lost 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to American world No.30 Mackenzie McDonald.
Russian 25th seed Karen Khachanov, meanwhile, was upset by South African Lloyd Harris 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, while Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz moved past Egor Gerasimov from Belarus with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win.
Elsewhere, Andy Murray launched a fresh rocket at his US Open conqueror Stefanos Tsitsipas, maintaining that the Greek player took too long for his first-round bathroom breaks.
The Briton was furious when Tsitsipas took a break that ran close to eight minutes during their five-set first-round clash on Monday.
The 2012 Flushing Meadows champion was still stewing a day later.
“Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitsipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bezos to fly into space. Interesting,†the 34-year-old Scot tweeted on Tuesday.
Tsitsipas had pointed out after the match that there are no time limits on bathroom breaks. “If there’s something that he has to tell me, we should speak the two of us to kind of understand what went wrong,†he said.
His incensed younger brother, Petros, responded to Murray’s broadside on Twitter: “Never expected this kind of behaviour, from a supposedly tennis legend!â€
He will take on world No. 44 Adrian Mannarino of France in the second round on Wednesday.
Reuters, AP
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