Tennis: French Open champ Ostapenko tumbles to US qualifier Lepchenko

TORONTO (City News Hd) – Qualifier Varvara Lepchenko mobilized to daze French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5) on Monday in the first round of the WTA hardcourt competition in Toronto.

American veteran Lepchenko, 31-years of age and positioned 68th on the planet, trailed 6-1, 3-0 preceding turning things around against the twelfth positioned Latvian, who had followed up her Roland Garros triumph by achieving the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

“I think I woke up, I was a tad bit in the resting mode for a set and a half,” said Lepchenko, a previous best 20 player herself. “All the credit to her, she played astounding tennis – she barely missed any ball from the earliest starting point.

“When I gave her a little push back, that s when the amusement began. I basically centered around my amusement.

“I know I have effective shots and I m as great a player as her, so I knew I simply needed to put forth a valiant effort, and it would be a fight.”

Lepchenko scored her initially prevail upon this season a main 20 player and her first since she beat then fifteenth positioned Timea Bacsinszky at the US Open a year ago.

The match was one of the Center Court features on the opening day of this key US Open tuneup.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, seeded ninth, featured the night session, going up against Romanian qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu.

Two-time Wimbledon victor Petra Kvitova, seeded fourteenth fought off Spain s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).

Kvitova easily got through the opening set, yet needed to fight once more from 1-4 down in the second to complete off the Spaniard in straight sets.

Top seed Karolina Pliskova and second-seeded Simona Halep – who won the Canadian crown a year ago when the WTA played in Montreal – were among the main eight players getting a charge out of first-round byes.

In other early activity on Monday, Czech Barbora Strycova annoy thirteenth seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-2, 6-3.

Strycova, positioned 26th on the planet, hustled to a 5-0 lead in the main set as Mladenovic attempted to discover her cadence.

In spite of the fact that Strycova was broken the first occasion when she served for the set, she at last served it out with an adoration amusement and rapidly took a 4-0 lead in the second casing.

She again turned back a late test from Mladenovic, who slice the deficiency to 4-3 yet was not able change over three break focuses that would have seen her level the set.

It was another baffling Canadian trip for Mladenovic, who has never won a match in Montreal or Toronto.

Somewhere else, British qualifier Heather Watson bowed out right on time, resigning while at the same time trailing Japan s Naomi Osaka 6-1, 4-1 with shoulder damage.

Belgium s Kirsten Flipkens was up 6-2 when Croatian adversary Ana Konjuh resigned, the triumph sending Flipkens into a moment round conflict with fourth-seeded Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain.