A classic D.C. summer thunderstorm caused play to go late into the night Monday, but persistent cloud cover dissipated Tuesday afternoon as the first round was completed at the D.C. Open on a day featuring plenty of American talent.
The first five singles matches of the day all wrapped up in straight sets and under 90 minutes, led by Taylor Townsend.
The Chicago native — one of seven U.S. women in action on the second day — needed barely more than an hour for a 6-2, 6-2 upset of No. 9 Anastasia Potapova. An alternate here and coming off her first Grand Slam title in doubles at Wimbledon, Townsend notched 10 aces in the match to overpower Potapova.
D.C. native Hailey Baptiste had plenty of opportunities to knock off six seed and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. Baptiste was up a break at 4-2 in the first set before handing it immediately back to Azarenka, helped by three double faults. The set required a lengthy tiebreak, in which Baptiste had two set points she could not convert.
The second set was similar, with Baptiste showing some signs of fatigue on a cooler but still humid Washington day, speaking with a trainer during the changeover down 2-3. That set would also require a tiebreak, won more easily by Azarenka to take the match 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3).
“I feel like I fought really hard today. I think that actually in the tiebreaks, in the important moments, I really executed well and did what I wanted to do,” Azarenka said. “I’m very happy with that aspect, that when it did count, I really was able to step up my level.”
Another American, Aleksandar Kovacevic, took out last week’s Atlanta Open champion Yoshi Nishioka, coming back from down a set to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The New York born Kovacevic hammered home 19 aces in the victory and will face 11 seed Roberto Carballes Baena in round two.
Sebastian Korda was part of the few second-round matches on the Tuesday schedule, winning 6-3, 6-2 in a tidy 70 minutes over Cristian Garan of Chile. The Florida-born Korda is seeking to replicate his Czechia-born father Petr’s result when he won in Washington in 1992.
No. 12 seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia also made quick work of his second-round tilt against JJ Wolf, beating the American 6-2, 6-3, while American qualifier Mitchell Krueger advanced quickly, but via a 7-6 (3), 4-1 walkover over Italian Luca Nardi, who retired due to right elbow pain.
Additionally on the ATP side of the draw, Luca Van Assche won 4-and-3 in an all-French battle over Arthur Cazaux, with Van Assche set to face top seed Andrey Rublev in the next round.
Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis also won a compatriot battle, rallying after dropping the first set to Max Purcell to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
“I served really well the whole match,” Kokkanakis said. “He didn’t have a break point, which is good from my end. Yeah, even the set I lost, I thought it was a little bit unlucky. I wasn’t really tested on serve. I had the break points early that I didn’t take. If I took those, maybe it was straight sets. But that’s tennis.”
Kokkanakis will play twice Wednesday — in his singles match against another countryman, 14 seed Aleksandar Vukic, and in the doubles draw, where he’s paired with Hyattsville native Frances Tiafoe.
“It is always good energy and atmosphere when he plays,” Kokkanakis said of their pairing. “I was supposed to play last week in Atlanta, but I couldn’t play. Looking forward to getting out there on the court with him. It’s always fun. We’re not expecting to be [American brothers Bob and Mike] Bryan out there on court. We’re going to enjoy it and hopefully, the crowd likes it.”
China’s Junchenf Shang didn’t face a break point in his straight-set win over Swede Elias Ymer, and qualifier Radu Albot of Moldova also advanced in straights over Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta.
Other women’s scores included Czechia’s Maria Bouzkova advancing 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 over American McCartney Kessler, and Kamilla Rakhimova winning the first match of the day, 4-and-3 over American Katie Volynets
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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