Endurance was the name of the game in the early session at the D.C. Open Monday, with the first three women’s matches on opening day needing all three sets to decide, and a men’s match needing more than three hours to complete before lightning suspended play.
No. 7 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova took three sets to finish off American and D.C. newcomer Ashlyn Krueger, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. A Washington finalist nine years ago, the Russian could face the American woman she lost to in that final — Sloane Stephens — in the second round.
China’s Yafan Wang surprised former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, coming back after dropping the first set to win, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. Pliskova struggled to find her form, only winning 61.8% of her total points in the match on her serve. American Caroline Dolehide also needed the distance to beat Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
The first day of the men’s draw at the Fitzgerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park moved along at a more expeditious pace, with the day’s first five matches decided in straight sets.
American J.J. Wolf was the first winner in the ATP draw, dispatching compatriot Zachary Svajda 6-4, 7-5. The Ohio native converted half of his break chances in the match (4-of-8) and will face 12th-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.
Tuesday’s action will include the return of Frances Tiafoe to his home tournament. The fifth-seeded Hyattsville native will open his D.C. Open with a second-round evening match on Stadium Court against qualifier Colombia’s Daniel Galan, who advanced Monday 4 and 3 over American Maxime Cressy.
For Tiafoe, D.C. — which he jokingly calls “the fifth” major — provides an opportunity to realign his season and finish the year with a return to his top-10 form of 2023.
“Now I’m at a stage where I want to chase my dreams and do my thing, ultimately do the goals I always wanted to do as a kid, kind of focus on that, continue to have fun and continue to innovate the game,” Tiafoe said. “That’s kind of my focus.”
The No. 29 player in the world has recently added David Witt, who has worked successfully with fellow Americans Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula, as his coach.
“He’s so relaxed and laid back, instills a lot of confidence in guys, aggressiveness in their game,” Tiafoe said of Witt. “It’s not just on the court when you’re hiring a coach. It’s also day to day, how they are. We’re very similar in our approach to how we see life. Just go about it in a very chilled, relaxed way.”
Witt joins Tiafoe’s team after the Hyattsville native parted ways with longtime coach Wayne Ferreira at the beginning of this year and following a short-lived reunion with another confidante, Diego Moyano.
“I think it’s really good to start brand-new and have someone I haven’t worked with before, really get to know him,” Tiafoe said. “Also someone that I’ve known but not actually worked with. He’s done really well here with Jess. He did an incredible job with Jess, incredible job with Venus. I think hopefully, the third time’s lucky with me.”
In other results Monday, Australian Christopher O’Connell defeated Frenchman Harold Mayot in straight sets, 6-7, 7-6 (3). O’Connell faces American Brandon Nakashima in the next round. And Cristian Garin of Colombia won 86% of his first-serve points in a 6-4, 6-2 win over Aslan Karatsev.
Qualifier Mattia Bellucci continued his whirlwind of a weekend, advancing past American Mackenzie McDonald, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3). The Italian has played matches on four straight days, losing late Friday in the quarterfinals of the Atlanta Open before flying to the District and winning on Saturday and Sunday to make the main draw.
The lone men’s match to go three sets during the early session saw Emil Ruusuvuori outlast Borna Coric in a three-hour battle, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4, with the Finn saving two match points along the way before play was temporarily suspended across the grounds due to lightning.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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