WTA Roland Garros: Kiki Bertens starts with a win. Wozniacki loses again
After losing in the final in Charleston, a former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki played only two matches in Madrid and Rome, struggling with injury and not being able to prepare for Roland Garros as she would have wanted. The 22-year-old Russian Veronika Kudermetova took full advantage of that, performing an excellent comeback in a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win in two hours and four minutes for the maiden Grand Slam triumph. Losing the first seven games of the match, Kudermetova shifted into a higher gear from the early stages of the second set and never looked back, taking three points more than Caroline and managing to deliver breaks of serve (they both had five) in the more important moments to cross the finish line.
The young Russian was the more aggressive player on the court and needed some time to find her range, losing all six games in the opening set that lasted just over half an hour before earning three breaks in set number two for a 6-3 and momentum ahead of the decider. There, they traded breaks in games two and five before Veronika grabbed another one to move 4-2 up, delivering two good holds and moving over the top with a volley winner in game nine for the place in the second round. World no. 4 and 2016 semi-finalist Kiki Bertens had a great day at the office, ousting Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 28 minutes. Despite hitting six double faults, Kiki lost only 14 points behind the initial shot, taming her shots nicely and saving both break points she faced to keep the serve intact.
Parmentier hit ten winners and 20 unforced errors, playing against seven break points and fending off five of those to escape bigger defeat, losing serve once in each set to propel Kiki into the next round. Bertens broke in the second game of the match to settle into a fine rhythm and dominated in the second set as well, making one good hold after another and securing the crucial break at 3-3 before holding at love in the tenth game for the 12th win in Paris. Lauren Davis took a wild card after winning the USTA Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge and she used it with both hands, defeating Kristyna Pliskova 6-2, 6-4 in swift 66 minutes for her first triumph in Paris since 2012! The American lost just 12 points on serve and never got broken, firing 22 winners with 13 unforced errors to notch three breaks and control the scoreboard all the time.
Two-time Roland Garros quarter-finalist Kaia Kanepi took down the 18th seed Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-1 in just over an hour and a half, trailing 4-1 in the opener before picking up her game to dominate in the rest of the decider, earning six breaks for the first win at Roland Garros since 2013. The 16-year-old Diane Parry (ranked 457th) has become the youngest player with a win here in ten years, beating Vera Lapko 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 41 minutes. The Belarusian had her chances but converted only one out of 14 break points, suffering four breaks to propel the youngster over the finish line on her WTA debut.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2wpkM2N
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