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19-year-old Hungarian qualifier Fanny Stollar has made one of the biggest surprises at the Volvo Open in Charleston so far, defeating the 6th seed Johanna Konta 6-3 6-4 in just an hour and 18 minutes for the place in the third round. This was their first meeting and world number 219 had the upper hand on the court, using the fact Konta is not a good clay court player and defending her second serve better to face just three break points.
Konta did score two breaks but that wasn't enough to keep her in the match longer, dropping almost 50% of the points in her games and getting broken on four occasions and failing to stay in touch with her opponent in the closing stages of both sets.
After two easy holds on both sides we saw four breaks of serve in a row, staying locked up at 3-3 before Fanny shifted into a higher gear to rattle off the last four games, winning 16 of the last 21 points for a 6-3 and sealing the opener with a service winner.
The second set was more fluid and there were no break points in the opening six games. Johanna saved one in game seven to remain on the positive side of the scoreboard but Fanny managed to break her at 4-4 when the Briton sent a forehand long, earning a chance to serve for the win in the following game.
The Hungarian delivered a nice hold and she will now face Kiki Bertens for the place in the quarter-final. 2011 and 2016 Charleston finalist Elena Vesnina is safely through to the last 16 after a 6-4 6-1 win over Taylor Townsend in an hour and 20 minutes in their first meeting on the Tour. Elena kept everything under control in her games, dropping 15 points in eight service games and losing serve once from three break points she gave to Taylor.
On the other hand, the American couldn't use the fact she served at 71%, giving away more than 50% of the points in her games and getting broken five times from nine break chances Vesnina created. Interestingly, it was Townsend who was off to a better start, breaking in game two for a 2-0 lead but Vesnina got it back in the very next game to avoid chasing the result.
The Russian served well after that and Taylor couldn't follow that pace, giving her serve away on fourth break point in game five to find herself 3-2 behind. They both served well by the end of the set and Elena closed the opener with a hold at 15 in game 10 for a 6-4.
She raced into a 4-1 lead in set number two with breaks in games one and five and then she saved two break points in the following game to keep her service games intact. Another break of serve in game seven sealed the deal for Vesnina, happy with the way she performed and looking for more of the same against Krystina Pliskova in the third round. Second round results:
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