Lyon Open: Clara Tauson bundles out top-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in 1R

There were a couple of notable upsets on the opening day of play at the Lyon Open on Monday. Ekaterina Alexandrova and sixth seed Sorana Cirstea both crashed out in the first round.

Denmark’s Clara Tauson ousted Alexandrova, seeded first in the draw, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. The qualifier did have a wobble while serving out the match at 5-2 in the second set, shanking three match points. In the following game on the Russian’s serve two more match points came and went for the teen. Finally, while serving for the match for the second time, Tauson prevailed on her seventh match point.

Speaking to the media after the match, Tauson said she wasn’t overly worried about not being able to convert the match points. “Honestly, I felt like I played really good on my match points. I wasn't too nervous - she was just playing really deep and hitting winners. What was going through my head was that I was in the lead, and even though I had to serve it out at 5-4 after being broken and having five match points, I still felt like I was in the lead, and I was on the scoreboard. So, I was just trying to keep my head calm and to remember I was in front.”

Lyon Open: Fiona Ferro survives a qualifier battle 

This was Tauson’s second win over a top-50 player. Meanwhile, in the second round in Lyon, she will take on Timea Babos. The Hungarian defeated another Russian, Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in their opener.

Earlier in the day, Serbian Nina Stojanovic upset Cirstea 6-4, 6-0. She will play Camila Giorgi in the second round. The Italian got past Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova 6-2, 6-3 in their first-round meeting.

In the second half of the Lyon Open draw, eighth seed Arantxa Rus set up a second-round meeting with Greet Minnen. The Dutch won her first-round match against Xiyu Wang 7-6(6), 6-4. Minnen defeated Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 7-5, 7-5 in their opener. Lastly, second seed Fiona Ferro escaped getting upset as she came from a set down to beat Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. Ferro awaits either Giulia Gatto-Monticone or Tereza Martincova in the second round.  

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3bXs8z0