Former champion Angelique Kerber returned to action for the first time in seven months and beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 yesterday to reach the second round of the US Open.
The 17th-seeded German, who entered the match having not competed since the fourth round of the Australian Open, overcame a shaky start on serve and got better as the 88-minute match at Louis Armstrong Stadium wore on.
“It’s not easy to play your first match after such a long time and it was my first match after Australia so I’m really happy how I played for the first match,” said Kerber.
“It’s always a little bit different to play points, and especially a match, than playing just practice points so I am happy how I did the transition to the match court now.”
Kerber was sidelined with a leg injury before the Covid-19 outbreak forced a shutdown of global tennis in March and did not compete in last week’s warm-up event played on the site of the US Open.
But despite the lack of recent competitive action, the 32-year-old former world number one needed only a handful of games to shake off the rust and never looked back as she improved her career record against Tomljanovic to 2-0.
Kerber, a three-times Grand Slam champion who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2016, traded breaks with Tomljanovic through the first four games of the match and then found her footing.
The German southpaw converted all three break-point chances to pull ahead 5-4 and went on to serve out at love to grab the first set when world number 59 Tomljanovic sent a forehand into the net.
In the second, Kerber quickly settled into a groove and broke her opponent twice before sealing the win on her third match point when a Tomljanovic forehand sailed long.
Kvitova advances
Sixth seed Petra Kvitova handily defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-2 in first-round action but the Czech admitted it took some time getting used to playing in front of the empty stands at Flushing Meadows.
The twice Wimbledon champion converted four of five break point opportunities and fired 23 winners to defeat her Romanian opponent.
“I had to motivate myself from the beginning to the end,” the 30-year-old said in an on-court interview.
She also lamented the lack of crowd support at the event, which is being played without any fans in attendance due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed over 180,000 lives in the United States.
“It’s really mentally tough, to be honest,” she added.
Kvitova, who suffered a second-round exit last year at Flushing Meadows, will next face either Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine or American Whitney Osuigwe.
Pliskova keeps maiden major bid alive
Earlier in the day, first seed Karolina Pliskova got a roaring start to her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title downing first-round opponent Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-0 to kick off the action in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 28-year-old Czech, who led the WTA in aces in four of the last five years, struggled with an uncharacteristically uneven serve in the first set, committing three double faults and getting only slightly more than half of her first serves in to give her unseeded opponent a fighting chance.
But Pliskova, the 2016 US Open runner-up, found her footing in the second set, winning all her first-serve points and committing just one unforced error, as her Ukrainian opponent was left scrambling.
“I think my game was quite good for a first round,” said Pliskova, the world number three, who played in front of empty stands as the tournament is being held without fans due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“For sure I prefer to have people around me,” she added.
Pliskova, who has won 16 WTA titles, next faces unseeded Caroline Garcia of France.
Schwartzman shocked
On the men’s side of the draw, Briton Cameron Norrie claimed his biggest win at a Grand Slam when he came from two sets down to beat ninth seed Diego Schwartzman 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 in the first round yesterday.
Both players served poorly, resulting in 58 break points being up for grabs in total, and 25-year-old Norrie saved two match points in the decider before prevailing after nearly four hours.
Extended rallies and long games were a feature of the match and it was Schwartzman who had the measure of Norrie after the early exchanges, winning four of the last five games in the opening set.
Norrie managed to create chances in the second set but did not convert the big points, giving Schwartzman a two-set lead before the Argentine started to lose his way in the third.
A time violation saw Schwartzman lose his cool and Norrie took advantage to break and lead 3-2. The Briton capitalised on more errors from a wayward Schwartzman to earn a double break before wrapping up the set.
Schwartzman was unable to find his groove in the fourth set as well while Norrie drastically reduced his unforced error count and converted all three break points to take the match to a decider and pile pressure on the Argentine.
The final set began with both players dropping serve. Schwartzman turned the tables with another break at 3-3 before calling for the physio to look at his wrist following a fall.
He immediately lost his momentum as Norrie saved match points at 5-3 and at 5-4 before taking a 6-5 lead as a cramping Schwartzman lost nine consecutive points and then saw his forehand hit the net on match point.
ROUND I RESULTS
Men’s singles
Juan Ignacio Londero (ARG) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-3, 6-3, 7-5
27-Borna Coric (CRO) bt Pablo Andujar (ESP) 7-5, 6-3, 6-1
Egor Gerasimov (BLR) bt 18-Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Jordan Thompson (AUS) bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Cameron Norrie (GBR) bt 9-Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5
Federico Coria (ARG) bt Jason Jung (TPE) 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 2-0 ret
Alejandro Davidovich (ESP) bt Dennis Novak (AUT) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0
Women’s singles
1-Karolina Pliskova (CZE) bt Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) 6-4, 6-0
Caroline Garcia (FRA) bt Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 6-3, 6-2
17-Angelique Kerber (GER) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-4, 6-4
12-Marketa Vondrousová (CZE) bt Greet Minnen (BEL) 6-1, 6-4
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Francesca Di Lorenzo (USA) 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0
Varvara Gracheva (RUS) bt Paula Badosa (ESP) 6-4, 7-5
Danka Kovinic (MNE) bt Lizette Cabrera (AUS) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
6-Petra Kvitova (CZE) bt Irina Begu (ROU) 6-3, 6-2
Angelique Kerber of Germany returns a shot during her US Open women’s singles first round match against Ajla Tomljanovic (not pictured) of Australia on Day One of the 2020 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the Queens borough of New York City, United States, yesterday. (Right) Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic serves against Anhelina Kalinina (not pictured) of the Ukraine. (AFP)
