Andreescu Rolls in US Open First Round

August 27, 2019 | By Brian Coleman
Andreescu Crop 3
Photo Credit: Brian Coleman/NY Tennis Magazine

 

Bianca Andreescu, the 15th seeded Canadian who entered this tournament as one of the favorites, begin her run with a 6-2, 6-4 win over American wild card Katie Volynets. Andreescu hit 29 winners and converted on four of her eight break point chances to advance in one hour and 28 minutes. She takes on the winner of Xiyu Wang and Kirsten Flipkens next.

Petra Kvitova wasted no time securing her spot in the second round of the 2019 US Open on Tuesday as the eighth-seeded Czech defeated her compatriot, qualifier Denisa Allertova, 6-2, 6-4 on Court 17 of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. 

“Obviously not easy playing a Czech opponent in a way. We’ve never faced each other on the tour, but we practiced many times in Prague and Fed Cup tie. We know each other pretty well,” said Kvitova. “For me it was the first round; for her it was like a fourth round, She qualified. So definitely she was playing well, and we play a kind of similar game to each other. She wanted to put pressure on me and I wanted to put pressure on her. Luckily I was the first one who did it, and I think I served pretty well today, as well. I’m glad that I played a good match today.”

 

Kvitova, who withdrew from the NYJTL Bronx Open last week, said her arm is almost back to 100 percent, and she played solid tennis to demonstrate that on Tuesday. She was only broken one time throughout the match, and hit 16 winners while taking advantage of 33 Allertova unforced errors. 

The two-time Wimbledon champion moves on to play Andrea Petkovic, who was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Mihaela Buzarnescu. 

“We played many times in the past. I do remember when I lost to her in the Australian Open, which wasn’t really great,” she added. “I’m going to be prepared for her. I know how she’s playing, we know each other very well.”

American Alison Riske continued her excellent play at the Grand Slams. A month removed from her run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, the Pittsburgh, Pa. native came back from a set down to beat 24th seed Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Grandstand. 

 

“It was an awesome match today,” said Riske. “Really proud of the way I fought through the entire match even though the first set didn’t go as planned. So I’m looking forward to the next match.

Obviously we’re not trying to just stop here and just winning one round at the US Open wasn’t the intention. I’m looking forward to it and I’m just really excited that I have given myself a chance to play another match.”

Riske moves on to play another former French Open champion in Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-6(7). 

Seventh-seed Kiki Bertens, 13th seed Belinda Bencic, 26th seed Julia Goerges and American wild card Francesca Di Lorenzo were other early winners on Tuesday. 

 


Brian Coleman

 Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com

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