German 15th seed Sabine Lisicki overcame a series of nervous mistakes to move past Irina Falconi 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the Volvo Open in Charleston.
Regardless of the seemingly straightforward scoreline, the world No.51 struggled with her serve throughout the match, getting only 43% of her first serves in, compared to Falconi’s 58%. Despite her disappointing service performance, Lisicki was able to capitalize on the key moments of the match. Producing back-to-back break of serve in both sets, the German converted all of her break point chances (4/4) to move to the second round.
“I was so nervous,” the 2009 champion said after the match.
“I love this place so much, I just got a little nervous.”
Lisicki one of three seeded players to triumph on the first day of the tournament. Daria Gavrilova (12) overcame a second set hammering from Zarina Diyas to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. The Australian had ten chances to break her opponent’s serve, however, she was only successful on four occasions. The win is sweet revenge for Gavrilova, who lost in straight sets to the Kazzak player two weeks ago at the Miami Open.
Eleventh seed Kristina Mladenovic booked her place in the second round after seeing off Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-3. In both sets the world No.29 has to come back from a break down to seal the win after an hour and 34 minutes of play. The victory in Charlston is Mladenovic’s second win on the WTA Tour since the Australian Open.
There was disappointment for local talent Shelby rogers after she prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena. Despite being ranked 28 places below the Spaniard, Rogers has enjoyed an encouraging start to the season. At the Rio Open she reached her second WTA final (first since 2014) before losing to Francesca Schiavone.
“I can’t lose sight of the big picture,” An optimistic Roger said after her loss.
“I’m healthy and able to compete and play matches like that. I’m not sitting out watching everyone else playing matches, because that’s the hardest part. I’m thankful for that.”
The only American triumph to occur on Monday was world No.94 Alison Riske. The 25-year-old eased to a 6-3, 6-2, win over American wildcard Frances Altick. The win sets Riske up with a second round showdown against third seed Venus Williams.
Monday’s results (via postandcourier.com)
Lourdes Dominguez Lino d. Christina McHale, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 11 Kristina Mladenovic d. Tatjana Maria, 6-4, 6-3
Kateryna Bondarenko d. Misaki Doi, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Daria Gavrilova d. Zarina Diyas, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
Elena Vesnina d. Cindy Burger, 7-5, 6-2
Jana Cepelova d. Anastasija Sevastova, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni d. Shuai Peng, 6-2, 6-1
Ana Konjuh d. Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-3, 6-3
No. 15 Sabine Lisicki d. Irina Falconi, 6-4, 6-3
Alison Riske d. Francis Altick, 6-3, 6-2
Danka Kovinic d. Cagla Buyukakcay, 6-1, 6-3
Lara Arruabarrena d. Shelby Rogers, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 A
