WTA Roland Garros: Simona Halep battles past Tomljanovic. Andreescu wins
The 3rd seed and defending Roland Garros champion Simona Halep kicked off the campaign with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Ajla Tomljanovic in an hour and 35 minutes. Nothing could have separated the rivals in the opening two sets and they finish the match with 19 winners each, switching focus to the errors department where Halep had the upper hand, hitting eight mistakes less than the Aussie and controlling the scoreboard in the final set to safely reach the second round without spending too much time on the court. Also, Simona and Ajla had the same number of break points and the Romanian delivered better tennis in the decisive moments, scoring seven breaks and giving serve away four times to cross the finish line first. Tomljanovic played on a very high level in set number two but that couldn't last, allowing Halep to break her four times in the decider and march towards the second round.
The struggling Russian Daria Kasatkina came to Paris with just five wins in 2019, desperate to find the form at the second Grand Slam of the season and defend the quarter-final from a year ago. The 21st seed opened her Roland Garros run with a commanding 6-2, 6-3 win over the Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini in 71 minutes, getting broken twice and scoring six breaks to move over the top despite hitting more unforced errors than winners. Paolini saved two match points at 1-5 in the second set, pulling one break back in game eight before Daria found the way to cement the triumph with another break in the ninth game. An 18-year-old Bianca Andreescu is playing for the first time since Miami, beating Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 after grueling three hours and two minutes.
Darkness suspended the match on Monday and the Canadian had to work hard both yesterday and today to prevail as the winner, losing serve eight times and forging the advantage with nine good return games, suffering a break at 4-3 in the third set before taking the last two games for the first win in more than two months. Another youngster Amanda Anisimova celebrated a one-sided 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Harmony Tan in swift 56 minutes, landing 24 winners and 16 unforced errors to leave the Frenchman far behind, playing only one loose service game and breaking Tan five times.
Lesia Tsurenko proved to be too good for Eugenie Bouchard who missed all the action after Miami, claiming a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 65 minutes following a dominant display on the return that drove her towards 57% of the points on Bouchard's initial shot. Aryna Sabalenka earned a 7-5, 6-1 win over Dominika Cibulkova after an hour and a half, fending off huge 13 out of 14 break points and racing towards the finish line after shifting into a higher gear in set number two.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/30LaHv3
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