Daria Gavrilova reached the second round at the St.Petersburg Ladies Trophy with a 6-4 7-5 win over Russian 18-year-old wildcard Anna Kalinskaya. who finished runner-up in the 2015 Wimbledon Junior tournament.
After trading breaks in the first games of the opening set, both players held their serve in two 14-point games in the sixth and eighth games. Gavrilova got the decisive break in the 10th game to win the first set 6-4. Gavrilova, US Open Junior champion and Youth Olympic gold medallist in 2010, came back from 3-5 down in the second round by winning the final four games of the second thanks to two consecutive breaks set to seal her spot in the second round, where she will face number 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Kuznetsova won her previous head-to-head match against Gavrilova last October in the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
“It was a tough match. I felt like I didn’t play my best tennis but I am happy with the way I fought. I got the win but I think that I need to up my level. She is four years younger than me”, said Gavrilova.
Annika Beck battled past Kiki Bertens 7-5 3-6 6-4. Beck recovered from 3-5 down by winning four consecutive games thanks to two consecutive breaks to seal the first set 7-5. Bertens bounced back by getting two breaks in the first and ninth games to win the second set 6-3 forcing the match to the third set. After trading breaks twice in the decider, Beck got the decisive break in the ninth game for 5-4 and held her serve at deuce in a hard-fought 10th game to seal the win.
World Number 115 player Natalia Vikhlyantseva upset Yaroslava Schvedova 6-3 6-4. Vikhlyantseva faced just one break point to win the first set 6-3. Schvedova rallied from 1-5 down in the second set by winning three consecutive games but Vikhlyantseva held her nerve to win the final game after 67 minutes securing her spot in the second round.
Andrea Petkovic beat Anastasiya Komardina 6-2 6-3 to seal her her spot in the main draw. Another player, who qualified for the main draw was Kirsten Flipkens, who overcame the loss of the second set to battle past Donna Vekic 6-4 5-7 7-5. Elise Mertens, who recently won the Hobart tournament, got through the qualifying round after taking a 6-2 2-6 6-4 win over Zanevska.
