The WTA 250 ATX Open in Austin, Texas, kicked off on Monday with China’s Wang Yafan pulling off a 1st-round upset win over 4th-seeded Lucia Bronzetti from Italy, 7-6(5) 6-4, while Diane Parry, Yuan Yue, and Camila Ororio also advanced to round 2.
Wang won 81% of her first-serve points and saved 4 of the 5 break points she faced, but she failed to take advantage of 3 set points on Bronzetti’s serve at 5-4 in the first set, and then needed 2 more to wrap up the tiebreak, before a lone break in the second gave the Chinese a 3-2 lead, which she did not relinquish.
Although she was only broken twice, Bronzetti faced consistent pressure on her serve, with Wang having 12 break chances during the match.
In other opening-round action, 5th-seeded Diane Parry won an all-French match-up against qualifier Jessika Ponchet, 6-3 7-6(4), in a contest between rare one-handed backhands.
The 21-year-old fired 11 aces while not dropping serve in the 90-minute match, and Parry now leads their head-to-head 2-1.
The No 8 seed Yuan Yue from China battled from behind to defeat Australia’s Arina Rodionova in 3 sets.
After dropping the opener, Yuan won 9 of the final 10 games from 3-all in the second set to secure the 3-6 6-3 6-1 win.
Colombia’s Camila Osorio, the 2019 US Open Junior champion, routed Alizé Cornet, 6-3 6-2, improving her record against the Frenchwoman to 2-0.
Anhelina Kalinina is the No 1 seed for the first time on the WTA Tour in Austin this week, and faces qualifier Sara Bejlek in the 1st-round
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Former Top 10 American Danielle Collins continues her final WTA Tour season this week in Austin, Texas where she is seeded 3 in the 32-player draw.
A semi-finalist at the inaugural ATX Open, Collins, who has announced her intent to retire at the end of the season, is one of a trio of American seeds in Texas, joined by No 2 Sloane Stephens and No 7 Peyton Stearns.
Stearns returns to the ATX Open, where she won her first WTA Tour match and reached her first quarter-final last season.
An All-American for the University of Texas, Stearns led the Longhorns to back-to-back NCAA team titles while also claiming the 2022 singles crown, and is a home hope for this event.
Stearns is set to take on 3-time WTA title winner Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Russia in her 1st-round encounter.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina is the No 1 seed at a WTA tournament for the first time in her career in Austin, and all the top 3 seeds play a qualifier in their opening rounds on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former Texas state champion Fernanda Contreras takes on another American, Taylor Townsend, who has been a professional since her All-American time at Vanderbilt, although she took some time away from the game after the birth of her son Adyn.
The WTA 250 ATX Open in Austin, Texas, kicked off on Monday with China’s Wang Yafan pulling off a 1st-round upset win over 4th-seeded Lucia Bronzetti from Italy, 7-6(5) 6-4, while Diane Parry, Yuan Yue, and Camila Ororio also advanced to round 2.
Wang won 81% of her first-serve points and saved 4 of the 5 break points she faced, but she failed to take advantage of 3 set points on Bronzetti’s serve at 5-4 in the first set, and then needed 2 more to wrap up the tiebreak, before a lone break in the second gave the Chinese a 3-2 lead, which she did not relinquish.
Although she was only broken twice, Bronzetti faced consistent pressure on her serve, with Wang having 12 break chances during the match.
In other opening-round action, 5th-seeded Diane Parry won an all-French match-up against qualifier Jessika Ponchet, 6-3 7-6(4), in a contest between rare one-handed backhands.
The 21-year-old fired 11 aces while not dropping serve in the 90-minute match, and Parry now leads their head-to-head 2-1.
The No 8 seed Yuan Yue from China battled from behind to defeat Australia’s Arina Rodionova in 3 sets.
After dropping the opener, Yuan won 9 of the final 10 games from 3-all in the second set to secure the 3-6 6-3 6-1 win.
Colombia’s Camila Osorio, the 2019 US Open Junior champion, routed Alizé Cornet, 6-3 6-2, improving her record against the Frenchwoman to 2-0.
Anhelina Kalinina is the No 1 seed for the first time on the WTA Tour in Austin this week, and faces qualifier Sara Bejlek in the 1st-round
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Former Top 10 American Danielle Collins continues her final WTA Tour season this week in Austin, Texas where she is seeded 3 in the 32-player draw.
A semi-finalist at the inaugural ATX Open, Collins, who has announced her intent to retire at the end of the season, is one of a trio of American seeds in Texas, joined by No 2 Sloane Stephens and No 7 Peyton Stearns.
Stearns returns to the ATX Open, where she won her first WTA Tour match and reached her first quarter-final last season.
An All-American for the University of Texas, Stearns led the Longhorns to back-to-back NCAA team titles while also claiming the 2022 singles crown, and is a home hope for this event.
Stearns is set to take on 3-time WTA title winner Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Russia in her 1st-round encounter.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina is the No 1 seed at a WTA tournament for the first time in her career in Austin, and all the top 3 seeds play a qualifier in their opening rounds on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former Texas state champion Fernanda Contreras takes on another American, Taylor Townsend, who has been a professional since her All-American time at Vanderbilt, although she took some time away from the game after the birth of her son Adyn.
