Google News
Sixth seed Petra Martic and ninth seed Alison Riske, the two seeds who played their first-round matches at the Silicon Valley Classic on Monday reached the second round. The Croatian defeated Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 14 minutes.
For a place in the quarter-finals, Martic will face Magda Linette. The Pole defeated Dutch qualifier Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-3, 6-3 in their opening-round clash. Meanwhile, in their derby, Riske got the better of fellow American Coco Vandeweghe.
Riske won 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 28 minutes. This was Riske’s first win on hard courts in the 2021 season. She hit 11 winners and 12 unforced errors while Vandeweghe was let down by 28 unforced errors despite hitting 17 winners.
Speaking with the media after her win, Riske spoke about the momentousness of the win. “I'm so thrilled. This year has been really challenging for me. Any time I start off a match [facing a deficit] like that, I'm thinking, ‘Oh no, not this again.’ I'm really thrilled that I was able to push through,” she said.
Silicon Valley Classic: Ana Konjuh weathers a Czech storm
In the second round, Riske will play Ana Konjuh. The Croatian qualifier defeated Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in a topsy-turvy opening round. Konjuh trailed Bouzkova 3-5 in the deciding set before making a comeback and posting a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win after two hours and 41 minutes of play.
In her post-match interaction with the press, Konjuh admitted, “This is the first time I played her, so I didn't really know what to expect. I don't think it was the best tennis from either one of us today, but on those days, it's really important to pull through and find a way to win.
I think I managed that today”. Among the other results at the Silicon Valley Classic, Shuai Zhang defeated Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-3, 6-2 in their opener to set up a second-round appointment with third seed Madison Keys.
Lastly, France’s Caroline Garcia ousted American qualifier Emina Bektas in their opener. Garcia will play fourth seed Daria Kasatkina for a place in the last eight.