Nineteen Americans Reach French Open Second Round; French Open Juniors Preview; Dominican Republic $25Ks Fill Void in USTA Pro Circuit Schedule

The second round of the French Open begins on Wednesday, with 19 Americans progressing in the draw, including five women who won first round matches today in Paris.

Ann Li at 2020 US Open (photo credit: USTA/Pete Staples

 

 

Ann Li, who has been out with an injury since reaching the semifinals of the Monterrey WTA 250 in March, showed no signs of rust today, defeating Margarita Gasparyan of Russia 6-0, 6-1 in 47 minutes. Bernarda Pera pushed top seed and 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia before falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, while Varvara Lepchenko earned at straight-sets win to join Hailey Baptiste as American women qualifiers in the second round.

Ten of the 19 Americans remaining in the singles draw are in action Wednesday, with the women's doubles first round also on the schedule. Twenty US women are competing in doubles, with four playing on seeded teams: Bethanie Mattek-Sands No. 14 with Iga Swiatek of Poland; Desirae Krawczyk No. 5 with Alexa Guarachi of Chile; Jennifer Brady No. 15 with Barty and Nicole Melichar No. 3 with Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands.

In men's doubles first round action today, Frances Tiafoe and Nicholas Monroe defeated the eighth-seeded team of Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-3, 6-4.

Tuesday's French Open first round results featuring Americans:

Novak Djokovic[1](SRB) d. Tennys Sandgren 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Aslan Karatsev[24](RUS) d. Jenson Brooksby[Q] 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Ashleigh Barty[1](AUS) d. Bernard Pera 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Coco Gauff[24] d. Aleksandra Krunic[Q](SRB) 7-6(11), 6-4
Jennifer Brady[13] d. Anastasia Sevastova(LAT) 6-3, 6-3
Sloane Stephens d. Carla Suarez Navarro(ESP) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
Ekaterina Alexandrova[32](RUS) d. Venus Williams 6-3, 6-1
Ann Li d. Margarita Gasparyan(RUS) 6-0, 6-1
Varvara Lepchenko[Q] d. Shuai Zhang(CHN) 6-3, 6-3

Wednesday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Serena Williams[7] v Mihaela Buzarnescu(ROU)
Madison Keys[23] v Leylah Fernandez(CAN)
Madison Brengle v Tamara Zidansek(SLO)
Danielle Collins v Anhelina Kalinina[Q](UKR)
Tommy Paul v Daniil Medvedev[2](RUS)
John Isner[31] v Filip Krajinovic(SRB)
Reilly Opelka[32] v Jaume Munar(ESP)
Steve Johnson v Thiago Monteiro(BRA)
Marcos Giron v Guido Pella(ARG)
Mackenzie McDonald[Q] v Cristian Garin[22](CHI)

The French Open Junior Championships begin Sunday in Paris, with nearly every player on April's initial acceptance lists still expected to compete. In addition to the nine American boys and eight American girls in the main draw, Braden Shick and Benjamin Kittay, at 2 and 4 out of the main draw, could be on standby should there be any late withdrawals. There is no qualifying again this year, so they are among those who may be allowed to travel to the tournament.

The ITF Junior website published its preview today, reviewing the accomplishments of the favorites, although the draws have yet to be released.

The ATP Challenger 80 in Little Rock saw rain wash out play today, with only three of the ten singles matches on the schedule managing to finish any games at all.

With the USTA Pro Circuit scheduling no tournaments in the US for three weeks for women, many of the collegians who would normally be starting their summer competition here have gone to the Dominican Republic, where $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour men's and women's tournaments are taking place this week.

Two of the players who competed in the women's team final, Pepperdine's Jessica Failla and Texas's Charlotte Chavatipon, qualified for the main draw, as did Jessica Livianu(St. John's), Sofia Sewing(Miami) and Princeton recruit Victoria Hu.  Sixteen-year-old American Olivia Lincer received a wild card and has yet to play her first round match. The three other wild cards, from the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, all lost today. Conny Perrin of Switzerland is the top seed, with Hanna Chang seeded second.

The only Americans to qualify for the main draw of the men's tournament are Alafia Ayeni(Cornell) and Kyle Seelig(Ohio State). Blaise Bicknell, who helped Florida to its team title last month, received a wild card. Shintaro Imai of Japan is the top seed, with Diego Hidalgo(Florida) of Ecuador seeded No. 2.