ANISIMOVA, CORNET POST OPENING-ROUND COMEBACKS IN CHARLESTON
MCNALLY, PUTINTSEVA, DOI ALSO ADVANCE ON MONDAY AT VOLVO CAR OPEN
Comebacks were the call of the day as main-draw action got underway at the Volvo Car Open on Monday, with three players advancing after dropping the opening set.
Avenging her second-round loss to the Polish baseliner at Wimbledon in 2019, No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova stormed back from a set down to defeat Magda Linette, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. The 19-year-old American, a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2019, was 7-for-14 on break-point opportunities in the two-hour triumph.
France’s Alizé Cornet rallied from a set and a break down to dismiss American Bernarda Pera, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in just under three hours, while Spain’s Paula Badosa turned things around against Russia’s Varvara Gracheva, winning 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours and 26 minutes.
American Catherine McNally, 19, took the opening set against 10th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 6-4. However, Rybakina was unable to return to the court and retired with a gastrointestinal illness.
“I wish Elena a speedy recovery. Obviously, she’s a great player,” said McNally, who is making her main-draw debut in Charleston. “You can’t get to 17 in the world without working so hard and being so good, so I hope she gets better soon. I’m pretty happy with the way I played, but I would have liked to continue the match to kind of prove to myself that I can close it out. Those are experiences you need to have.”
Playing for the right to meet countrywoman Sofia Kenin in the second round, Americans Lauren Davis and Madison Brengle faced off on the Althea Gibson Club Court in the nightcap. In the end it was Davis, 27, who would advance, overcoming lower back pain in a 6-4, 6-2 triumph. Brengle, a quarterfinalist here in 2015, appeared to battle some physical discomfort of her own, falling to 4-6 on the year.
No. 17 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic defeated Hungary’s Timea Babos, 6-2, 7-5. Bouzkova trailed 4-0 in the second set before reeling off seven of the next eight games to seal the one-hour, 49-minute victory.
Earlier in the day, 2014 champion Andrea Petkovic withdrew with a lower back injury, replaced in the draw by lucky loser Harriet Dart of Great Britain. However, Dart’s stay would be a brief one: She was dismissed by Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, 7-6(8), 6-4. Also withdrawing from the Volvo Car Open on Monday was Italy’s Camila Giorgi. The Italian was replaced by Caroline Dolehide, who will play her first-round match against fellow American Hailey Baptiste on Tuesday.
Others moving on with Monday wins were: Misaki Doi (def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3, 6-3), Zarina Diyas (def. Natalia Vikhlyantseva, 6-3, 6-1), Ajla Tomljanovic (def. Christina McHale, 6-3, 6-0), Veronika Kudermetova (def. Desirae Krawczyk, 6-1, 6-2), Kurumi Nara (def. Francesca Di Lorenzo, 6-2, 6-2), Magdalena Frech (def. Grace Min, 6-2, 6-4) and Storm Sanders (def. Asia Muhammad, 6-2, 6-4).
