SEEDS TOPPLED IN CHARLESTON OPEN QUALIFYING

MIN OUSTS TOP SEED DART; TALABA UPENDS NO. 3 WANG IN THREE SETS TO REACH MAIN DRAW

It was a busy Easter Sunday at the Charleston Open, with the final round of qualifying concluding at the LTP Daniel Island Tennis Center.

The day began with a high-profile upset, as No. 14 seed Grace Min of the United States ousted top seed Harriet Dart of Great Britain, 6-2, 6-2. It marked a rematch of their opening-round clash earlier this year in the main draw of the Australian Open, also won by Min, 7-5, 6-2. This will be the Georgia native’s fifth main-draw appearance in Charleston, where she’s twice reached the second round.

An early service break put No. 4 seed Natalia Vikhlyantseva in front against American Alycia Parks, and the Russian never trailed thereafter, winning 6-4, 6-1. The 24-year-old is into the main draw of the Charleston Open for a third time, though she has yet to advance beyond the first round.

No. 16 seed Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine, who climbed to a career-high No. 29 in 2009, the same year she reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, was defeated by former Arizona State standout Desirae Krawczyk, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.

No. 7 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland needed one hour and 39 minutes to get past Canada’s Katherine Sebov, 7-5, 6-1, while No. 13 seed Gabriela Talaba of Romania went the distance with No. 3 seed Xinyu Wang of China, pulling off a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 upset.

The Caroline Dolehide vs. Storm Sanders matchup would go three sets over more than two hours, with No. 11 Sanders shocking No. 5 Dolehide, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).

No. 10 seed Allie Kiick of the U.S. came up short in her main-draw bid against Japan’s Kurumi Nara, the No. 8 seed, falling 6-2, 6-1. Asia Muhammad prevailed in an all-American tussle with Whitney Osuigwe, advancing to the main draw with a 6-2, 7-6(3) victory.