Frenchwomen Clara Burel and Diane Parry had little trouble advancing to the second round of the Jasmin Open Tunisia on Monday in Monastir, Tunisia.
No. 2 seed Burel defeated Spain’s Marina Bassols Ribera 6-2, 6-2 in first-round action. Burel fired seven aces, converted 5 of 7 break points and saved 5 of 6 break points she faced.
Parry, the third seed, defeated Tunisia’s Chiraz Bechri 6-3, 6-0 in an hour flat. Parry converted 5 of 6 break points en route to winning the final nine games of the match.
No. 8 seed Anna Blinkova of Russia didn’t have it so easy. Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain upset her 6-4, 6-4, with Blinkova winning a mere 18 of 38 first-service points (47.4 percent).
Other first-round winners included Germany’s Eva Lys, Great Britain’s Yuriko Miyazaki and Japan’s Mai Hontama.
Guadalajara Open Akron
No. 7 seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia took down American opponent Sachia Vickery 6-4, 6-4 to open the WTA 500 tournament in Mexico.
The upstart Vickery, ranked No. 160 in the world, hit five aces but also committed six double faults. Kudermetova saved 5 of 8 break points and converted all five of her chances to break Vickery’s serve.
Four more matches were scheduled for Monday, including Sloane Stephens facing Australian Olivia Gadecki.
–Field Level Media
Paul Skenes struck out nine over 6 1/3 scoreless innings and the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates opened a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 3-0 victory on Friday….
Jaden McDaniels scored 30 points, Anthony Edwards had 29, and the Minnesota Timberwolves finished strong for a 116-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their Western…
Simon Nemec scored 2:36 into the second overtime Friday night for the New Jersey Devils, who got back into their Eastern Conference first-round series with a 3-2 win over the…
NBA roundup: Big second half lifts Wolves over Lakers
NHL roundup: Devils top Canes in 2OT, avoid 3-0 hole
President Trump rips NFL teams for passing on Shedeur Sanders
Ramifications of NCAA’s new world reach NFL draft