Roberta Vinci, who famously beat Serena Williams in the semifinal before losing the final against her compatriot and friend Flavia Pennetta in last year’s edition of the US Open, made a winning start to her campaing by beating Anna-Lena Friedsman 6-2 6-4 in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York in one hour and 8 minutes.
Vinci got off to a good start by getting an early break in the first game, as Friedsman made two consecutive errors at 30-all. The Italian got a double break to 15 at 3-1, as the German made four consecutive errors, including a double fault. At 1-5 Friedsman fended off a break point as Vinci made a forehand error and held her service game. At 5-2 Vinci missed another break point but sealed the first set as Friedsman made two more errors. The German ended the first set with 21 unforced errors.
Vinci got an early break in the opening game of the second set but Friedsman broke back to 15 in the fourth game. At 4-4 Vinci broke again to 30, as Friedsman hit her forehand into the net on the break point. At 5-4 Vinci won four consecutive points from 0-15 )including an ace at 15-15) and closed out the match with a service winner. Vinci will need to reach the US Open final to stay in the top 10.
Angelique Kerber, who is now ranked world number 2 and reached the final at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, was leading 6-0 1-0 as her opponent Polona Hercoc retired after just 33 minutes. The 2016 Australian Open champion will play against Mirjana Lucic Baroni in the next round. Kerber broke three times in the second, fourth and sixth games to take a bagel win in the opening set.
