Fourth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France survived a two-hour, 42-minute test in Tuesday’s first round to advance in the Lyon Open in France.
Battling Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu, Mladenovic eventually prevailed 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 after winning 72.1 percent of her first-serve points and saving six of 12 break points. She’ll face Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan in the next round; Gasparyan took a clean 6-4, 6-1 win over Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska on Tuesday.
Other seeded players in action on Tuesday included No. 3 Caroline Garcia of France, who also needed three sets for a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over fellow countrywoman Oceane Dodin. Seventh-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain slipped by France’s Harmony Tan 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5).
Qatar Total Open
American Madison Keys upset No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-1 in the first round Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.
Keys, a five-time singles winner, needed just 67 minutes to get the victory. She had just one double fault, won 83.3 percent of her first serve points, and saved four of five break points. Keys will face Maria Sakkari of Greece in the next round.
Japan’s Misaki Doi defefeated Saisai Zheng of China 6-4, 6-3 to advance to a second-round matchup with top seed and World No. 5 ranked Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Anna Blinkova of Russia to also advance Tuesday, and she’ll draw No. 2 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic next. Both Svitolina and Pliskova had first-round byes.
–Field Level Media
