WTA Charleston: Ashleigh Barty survives day of surprises
Ashleigh Barty is in the round of 16 of the WTA 500 tournament in Charleston after a convincing win over Misaki Doi. With Sofia Kenin , Belinda Bencic , Elise Mertens and Madison Keys , four co-favorites got the title on Wednesday.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Apr 08, 2021, 07:54 am
After her triumph at the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, world number one Ashleigh Barty, unlike some of her big competitors in the WTA charts, decided to do another tournament appearance with the 500 event in Charleston. And the change from the fast hard court to the slow clay court succeeded the 24-year-old brilliantly.
In her first match on ashes since winning the French Open final in 2019, Barty needed just an hour against Misaki Doi to achieve a completely safe 6: 2 and 6: 1 success. After a bye at the beginning, the Australian is now in the last sixteen in Charleston. In this one, she'll face Shelby Rogers, who beat Amanda Anisimova in three sentences.
Gauff continues in the race
On the other hand, things went less well for Sofia Kenin, who was seeded in second place. The American slipped on the green sand in their opening encounter and had to admit defeat to compatriot Lauren Davis 6: 4, 3: 6 and 4: 6. Davis now meets the only 16-year-old Cori Gauff, who defeated Liudmila Samsonova in three close sets.
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If he beat Davis, Gauff would even have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals of the clay court event. Because with Elise Mertens, the regular quarter-final opponent failed in round two. The Belgian lost to Alize Cornet, who will play against Ons Jabeur in the round of 16, 5-7 and 3-6.
With Belinda Bencic, another favorite for the title failed on Wednesday. The Swiss lost against Paula Badosa with 2: 6, 7: 6 (2) and 1: 6. The defending champion has also already retired: Madison Keys lost to Sloane Stephens in a new edition of the 2017 US Open final with 4-6 and 4-6
Here the single tableau in Charleston