Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden upset No. 1 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (3) in first-round action at the Copa Colsanitas on Tuesday in Bogota, Colombia.
Bjorklund capitalized on Mertens’ 19 double faults and broke her serve five times in eight opportunities.
Elina Avanesyan of Russia demolished fifth seed Sara Errani of Italy 6-1, 6-0 in just 49 minutes. Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia also came up shy of a double bagel, defeating Reka Luca Jani of Hungary 6-0, 6-1 in 60 minutes. Zidansek will face Bjorklund in the next round.
No. 2 seed Tatjana Maria of Germany cruised past American Katrina Scott 6-1, 6-4. Other winners were No. 7 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, Sinja Kraus of Austria, Nuria Brancaccio of Italy, Emiliana Arango of Colombia, Peyton Stearns of the U.S. and Carolina Alves of Brazil.
Credit One Charleston Open
In a battle of former Grand Slam winners, No. 6 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus surged past Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at Charleston, S.C.
Azarenka won despite not serving an ace amid four double faults. She won seven of her nine break-point opportunities to best Stephens, the 2016 tournament champion.
Shelby Rogers rallied past No. 13 seed Danielle Collins in an all-American first-round matchup, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-1. Rogers had an 8-5 edge in aces and saved eight of 10 break points.
No. 9 seed Madison Keys, the 2019 champion at Charleston, opened with a 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow American Emma Navarro. Spanish No. 12 seed Paula Badosa beat Mayar Sherif of Egypt 6-3, 6-1, while another Spaniard, Cristina Bucsa, took down No. 16 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-1.
Americans Hailey Baptiste, Sofia Kenin, Caroline Dolehide, Bernarda Pera and Caty McNally also advanced to the second round, as did Russians Varvara Gracheva and Diana Shnaider and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez. Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya earned a second-round victory.
In the nightcap, No. 2 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia cruised past Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 6-3, 6-3 in second-round play.
–Field Level Media
