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Anhelina Kalinina ousted Daria Kasatkina, a past Kremlin Cup winner, in the first round on Monday. The Ukrainian won 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 23 minutes in Moscow. Kasatkina struggled with her game and although she was able to cull down on Kalinina’s lead in the match, she wasn’t able to make good on her serve which made the difference in the proceedings of the match.
Kalinina had 24 winners and 18 unforced errors. Kasatkina, on the other hand, had 19 winners and 22 unforced errors. In the second round, Kalinina will play either Ekaterina Alexandrova or fifth seed Ons Jabeur.
Kremlin Cup: Anna Kalinskaya survives Russian exodus
Meanwhile, at the top of the draw, Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Kasatkina’s compatriot, Liudmila Samsonova in their first-round clash.
The Australian won 6-2, 6-4 in 90 minutes. Tomljanovic won 67% of her first-serve points to the Russian’s 53% and 55% of her second-serve points to Samsonova’s 45%. Tomljanovic saved one of the two break points, she faced while converting four of the nine break points, she had on Samsonova’s serve.
The 43rd-ranked Tomljanovic finished with 71 points to Samsonova’s 54. Looking to clinch a place in the quarter-finals, Tomljanovic will next play top seed Aryna Sabalenka. The last home player to open her campaign in the Russian capital, Anna Kalinskaya, also advanced to the second round.
Kalinskaya, who qualified for the main draw, defeated Dayana Yastremska 7-6(5), 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes. Next up for Kalinskaya’s, third seed Maria Sakkari. The two other first-round clashes played on Monday at the Kremlin Cup were both derbies between qualifiers.
In the first, Bernarda Pera won against Aleksandra Krunic, 7-6(3), 6-3 in an hour and 36 minutes. The American will play fourth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next. In the second, Lesia Tsurenko downed China’s Qinwen Zheng, 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 27 minutes. Tsurenko will take on either seventh seed Elena Rybakina or Marketa Vondrousova next.