Murray proceeds as youngster Gauff falls

DAY one of the main draw of the Western and Southern Open saw some fairly predictable results and some surprises across both the WTA and ATP tournaments with Andy Murray progressing through to the next stage and youngster Coco Gauff knocked out of the tournament. 

ATP Results:
Murray is through to Round 2 of the Western and Southern Open, but he did not have it easy against powerful American Frances Tiafoe. Despite putting up a strong display, the younger wildcard Tiafoe went down 7-6 3-6 6-1 in two hours and 28 minutes. The opening set was dominated by strong serving, which led to a very tense tie-break. Tiafoe had a 5-2 lead in the breaker and a set point at 6-5, but in trademark style Murray fought back to gain the upper hand. In the second set, Tiafoe took the one break point chance he had with a low backhand drop volley to set up a decider. From there, Murray raced to a 3-0 lead and claimed a second break at 4-1 before proceeding to serve out the match. The schedule will not get any easier for the former world number one, as he faces world number seven Alexander Zverev in the next round.

Kevin Anderson was another big winner in the afternoon, as the giant South African defeated Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund 7-6 4-6 6-3. The former world number five put a string of recent knee issues behind him to claim his first win since the first round of the Australian Open earlier this year. He was 3-5 down in the opening set, but recovered to take it out in a tie-break. Edmund then got a break at 2-2 in the second to extend the clash to a third. Anderson stayed strong in the decider, saving multiple break points before breaking Edmund in the eighth game to clinch the victory. This result sets up a fascinating clash in the second round between Anderson and world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had a bye in the opening round.

Other results:
• Australia’s Alex De Minaur bowed out against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2 6-4.
• Left-handed Canadian Denis Shapovalov took down star Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3.
• Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis defeated America’s Tommy Paul 6-7 6-4 7-5.
• Young star Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4 6-1.
• Frenchman Benoit Paire retired hurt against Borna Coric after being down 6-0 1-0.
• Taylor Fritz defeated Lloyd Harris 6-1 6-3.
• Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta proved too good for Dusan Lajovic, winning 7-5 6-1.
• Reilly Opelka defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4.
• The big-serving Milos Raonic defeated Sam Querrey 6-4 6-4.
• Filip Krajinovic defeated Salvatore Caruso 7-5 6-4.

WTA Results:
Number 16 seed Dayana Yastremska overcame a twisted ankle to defeat star veteran Venus Williams 5-7 6-2 7-5 in the opening round. 20-year-old Yastremska considered withdrawing from the clash in the first game of the second set due to the pain she was experiencing, but decided that she had to finish the match despite being a set down. After the clash, she said that the injury made her feel calm because not being able to freely move around the court gave her the liberty to take some more risks with her shots. Despite tallying 60 unforced errors for the match, Yastremska’s willingness to go for more winners is what powered her to victory, finishing with 39 winners to Williams’ 11. At the end of a tense final set, the Ukrainian saved three break points to close it out and set up a clash with American Bernarda Pera, who defeated Heather Watson 6-1 3-6 6-3.

Williams was not the only high-profile American to lose on Saturday, as young rising star Gauff was defeated by number 13 seed Maria Sakkari 6-1 6-3 in 65 minutes. Sakkari faced just one break point throughout the two sets, as her serve held her in good stead throughout the match. It was the first ever clash between the two, and Sakkari will take a lot of confidence from the result ahead of the rest of the tournament and the US Open.

Other results:
• Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova put in a brilliant serving performance to defeat ninth seed Elena Rybakina 7-5 7-6.
• Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic started strongly but could not get the best of Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, going down 5-7 6-3 7-5.
• In an all-American clash, Amanda Anisimova upset 11th seed Alison Riske 6-3 6-3.
• France’s Kristina Mladenovic defeated Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3 6-4.
• Czech’s Karolina Muchova defeated American Ann Li 6-4 6-4.
• Victoria Azarenka took down 15th seed Donna Vekic 6-2 6-3.
• Alize Cornet defeated Catherine McNally 6-0 6-4.

For more updates about the ATP and WTA tours, follow Tom Cheesman on Twitter.

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