Stephens, Pliskova win opening matches at San Diego Open

Posted October 11, 2022 7:00 am

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens and Karolina Pliskova, a one-time U.S. Open runner-up, won their opening matches at the San Diego Open WTA 500 on Tuesday.

Stephens, a wild-card entrant from the United States who won the 2017 U.S. Open, got her second win in 2022 over lucky loser Jil Teichmann, beating the Swiss lefthander 6-1, 7-6 (2). Pliskova, a former No. 1 from the Czech Republic who was the 2016 U.S. Open runner-up, beat American Caroilne Dolehide 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round.

'œIt's always a tough match with her. She's a great player,'ť said the 52nd-ranked Stephens, who saved a set point in the second set. 'œI knew she was going to come out and give me a good fight. I just tried to stay calm and play my game. In the end, it went my way.'ť

Leylah Fernandez, the U.S. Open 2021 runner-up, dropped her second match this year to No. 8 seed Daria Kasatkina, 6-2, 6-2, in just 59 minutes.

'œDasha is an amazing player. She's improved so much over the years,'ť Fernandez observed. 'œI watched her play on TV when I was still a junior. Seeing her now in the top 10 and doing so well this year is truly inspiring. I think today she showed how well she can play. She didn't make too many mistakes. I, unfortunately, did.'ť

Croatia's Donna Vekic beat fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece for the fifth time in seven meetings, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

'œMaria is a really good friend of mine. I wasn't happy to play her. I think we were both pretty nervous at the beginning, but I managed to calm down a little bit and I think I found my zone in the second set,'ť said the 77th-ranked Vekic, who now owns nine career wins over Top-10 opponents, including an upset of No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka last summer at the Tokyo Olympics.

'œI was really happy when I found out that she took a wild card at the last second and was coming here,'ť added Vekic. 'œI texted her straight away. When the draw came out, I was like, '~Oh, my God, we're playing each other!' It's not easy. We fight on the court, but we're still close off the court.'ť

Vekic, 26, finished with seven aces and converted five of six break-point opportunities.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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