THE second day of the Tennis in the Land and Chicago Women’s Open events saw plenty of big results during the Round of 32, with a seed falling at each of the tournaments.

At the Tennis in the Land in Cleveland, the top two seeds came away relatively unscathed, as top seed Daria Kasatkina asserted herself with a 6-3 6-3 blitz over Slovenian Kaja Juvan, while second seed Anett Kontaveit overcame a shoddy start to eventually blast past American Lauren Davis in a topsy turvy 92-minute encounter, 1-6 6-0 6-0. Sixth and seventh seeds Magda Linette and Sara Sorribes Tormo both also denied second round berths to Americans, disposing of Emina Bektas and Alexa Glatch, respectively, while ninth seed Zhang Shuai had a tight start against Italian Martina Trevisan before completing the 7-5 6-1 result in under 90 minutes.

It was a shaky day for Americans overall, with eighth seed Shelby Rogers felled by Czech Katerina Siniakova, as the seed was joined by Davis, Bektas, Glatch, Christina McHale, Maria Mateas and Catherine Harrison. The only American to survive the day was Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who overcame one of two Japanese talents in Ena Shibahara, 6-4 3-6 6-1. Nagi Hanatani was more fortunate in her own encounter, coming into her second clash with fresh legs after Russian Anna Blinkova retired just one game into the six-minute match. The day’s remaining two winners were Czech 16-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, who overcame Brit Tara Moore 6-4 7-5, and Russian Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri.

In Chicago, it was third seed Romanian Sorana Cirstea who was ousted in a 3-6 6-3 6-2 clash with Czech Tereza Martincova, unable to compete with the Czech’s hot serve. Two players completed results early with mid-match withdrawals, as Clara Burel retired from her clash with top seed Elina Svitolina during the third set, while Ana Bogdan earned an easy ride after Heather Watson retired partway through their 6-2 1-0 clash.

The day’s remaining four seeds in Marketa Vondrousova, Viktorija Golubic, Kristina Mladenovic and Alize Cornet all claimed first round wins, with just Cornet requiring three sets to get the job done against American Ann Li, dropping the first set before flying through the second and third. Li was joined on the sidelines by compatriot Venus Williams, who fell to Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-wei, and Quinn Gleason who was downed in just 61 minutes by Vondrousova. Elsewhere, Alison van Uytvanck and Fiona Ferro both claimed opening round wins over Nao Hibino and Aldila Sutjiadi, respectively.

TENNIS IN THE LAND ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[1] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) defeated Kaja Juvan (SLO) 6-3 6-3
[2] Anett Kontaveit (EST) defeated Lauren Davis (USA) 1-6 6-0 6-0
[6] Magda Linette (POL) defeated Emina Bektas (USA) 7-6 6-4
[7] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) defeated Alexa Glatch (USA) 6-2 6-1
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) defeated [8] Shelby Rogers (USA) 7-5 6-1
[9] Zhang Shuai (CHN) defeated Martina Trevisan (ITA) 7-5 6-1
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) defeated Ena Shibahara (JPN) 6-4 3-6 6-1
Polona Hercog (SLO) defeated Maria Mateas (USA) 6-3 6-2
Nagi Hanatani (JPN) defeated Anna Blinkova (RUS) 1-0 RET
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) defeated Christina McHale (USA) 6-4 7-5
Caroline Garcia (FRA) defeated Catherine Harrison (USA) 6-1 6-2
Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE) defeated Tara Moore (GBR) 6-4 7-5
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) defeated Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) 6-4 6-2

CHICAGO WOMEN’S OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[1] Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated Clara Burel (FRA) 5-7 6-2-0 RET
Tereza Martincova (CZE) defeated [3] Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 3-6 6-3 6-2
[5] Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) defeated Quinn Gleason (USA) 6-2 6-0
[6] Viktorija Golubic (SUI) defeated Maria Camila Osorio Serrano (COL) 7-6 6-3
[7] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) defeated Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 6-2 7-6
[9] Alize Cornet (FRA) defeated Ann Li (USA) 6-7 6-0 6-4
Alison van Uytvanck (BEL) defeated Nao Hibino (JPN) 6-1 6-3
Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) defeated Venus Williams (USA) 6-2 6-3
Fiona Ferro (FRA) defeated Aldila Sutjiadi (POL) 4-6 7-5 6-1
Ana Bogdan (ROU) defeated Heather Watson (GBR) 6-2 1-0 RET

Picture credit: ESPN