A SECOND straight day of rainfall delayed proceedings at the Western and Southern Open, but that did not stop some big wins getting on the board as all three of the day’s seeds claimed wins and some speedy victories were registered in Cincinnati.

Simona Halep made her long awaited return to the court and did not appear to skip a beat despite her new ranking, having dropped outside the top 10 for the first time in a number of years. Her 12th seeding did not phase her, as she ousted Pole Magda Linette 6-4 3-6 6-1, recovering well following a shaky second set to claim victory in two hours and 10 minutes. Halep fired off 11 aces and won 73 per cent of her first serve points throughout the clash, also capitalising off her second serve when required. 14th seed Victoria Azarenka had no qualms taking down Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets, as the Russian piled on 32 unforced errors to ultimately hand Azarenka a flurry of critical points to go down 6-2 6-3 in one hour and nine minutes. The third seeded clash saw Belinda Bencic dispose of Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-3 7-5, weathering the storm of a potential comeback despite Vondrousova’s heavy serve.

Azarenka was not the only player who pulled off a speedy win, as Coco Gauff blitzed through her 60 minute clash with Hsieh Su-wei, 6-1 6-2, despite waiting almost three hours between sets due to the rain. Gauff hit 20 winners to 16 unforced errors, firing off 10 aces and winning 77 per cent of her first serve points off a 70 per cent clip.

“I think I did well just focusing on my side of the court,” Gauff said post-match. “She hits a crazy shot, and trying to not let that get into my head, because she’s talented and she will hit great shots.”

The American teenager will next take on Naomi Osaka, with their head-to-head split evenly 1-1, both claiming a victory at a grand slam – Osaka at the 2019 US Open, and Gauff at the 2020 Australian Open. However, the two have not played since prior to the pandemic, meaning there is little to compare their recent form almost 18 months down the line.

“I definitely did learn a lot from both matches [against Osaka], actually,” Gauff said. “The second match, I learned that I can perform well under the pressure, and that I do have a lot more fun on the court when I try not to focus on the expectations of other people and myself, whereas I didn’t really find that I guess balance until that Australian Open match.”

Among the speedy victors on Day 2 were Veronika Kudermetova, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, with the latter handing a revenge 6-2 6-2 result to Italian Camila Giorgi, who overcame the American in the National Bank Open semi-finals in Montreal last week – and then claimed the title. Kudermetova also disposed of an Italian in Jasmine Paolini, while Rybakina took down Australian Sam Stosur 6-3 6-3. One match is still yet to be completed between Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia and American Sloane Stephens, with Stephens hoping to join Gauff and Bernarda Pera on the winners list, and not go the way of Caty McNally who fell to Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 7-6(3) 7-6(1) in just over two hours. The two other completed matches for the day both went the full three sets, as Ons Jabeur ousted Anett Kontaveit 6-2 4-6 7-5, while Karolina Muchova also joined the winners list with her 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 result over Johanna Konta, requiring two hours and 27 minutes to dispose of the Brit.

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[10] Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 6-3 7-5
[12] Simona Halep (ROU) defeated Magda Linette (POL) 6-4 3-6 6-1
[14] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) defeated Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) 6-2 6-3
Coco Gauff (USA) defeated Hsieh Su-wei (TPE) 6-1 6-2
Karolina Muchova (CZE) defeated Johanna Konta (GBR) 3-6 7-6 6-2
Bernarda Pera (USA) defeated Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 6-4 6-1
Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Sam Stosur (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) defeated Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 6-3 6-2
Jessica Pegula (USA) defeated Camila Giorgi (ITA) 6-2 6-2
Ons Jabeur (TUN) defeated Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-2 4-6 7-5
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) defeated Caty McNally (USA) 7-6 7-6

Caroline Garcia (FRA) Sloane Stephens (USA)

Picture credit: Western & Southern Open via Twitter