Nineteen-year-old American Ashlyn Krueger, ranked No. 123 in the world, upset eighth-seeded Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships on Monday in Osaka.
Krueger won 27 of her 38 first-service points and cleaned up 9 of her 15 second-service points. She won the final four games of the first set and the final three games of the second to pull away in a tidy 82 minutes.
No. 5 seed Nadia Podoroska of Argentina needed three sets to get by China’s Yue Yuan 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. No. 6 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Diana Shnaider of Russia, saving six of seven break points along the way.
Russia’s Valeria Savinykh defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Two matches were in the third set when they were suspended until Tuesday. No. 4 seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic and Great Britain’s Harriet Dart were tied a set apiece, 7-5, 5-7. Japan’s Mai Hontama led South Korea’s Su Jeong Jang 7-5, 0-6, 5-1.
San Diego Open
Katie Volynets rallied past 17-year-old qualifier Clervie Ngounoue 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in an all-U.S. matchup during the first round at San Diego.
Ngounoue, ranked 224th in the world, was playing in just her second match in a top-level WTA Tour event. She recently lost to Australia’s Daria Saville in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Volynets, 21, had lost her past eight top-level WTA Tour matches since reaching the semifinals at Austin, Texas, in March.
In other opening-round action, Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich upset fifth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, the United States’ Emma Navarro and Colombia’s Camila Osorio also won first-round matches.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina survived the last match of the night, topping the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (4), 0-6, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
