Defending champion Katie Boulter survived a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 marathon to beet British compatriot Harriet Dart in the first round Monday at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham, Great Britain.
The third-seeded Boulter overcame 4-3 and 5-4 deficits in the deciding set to win in 3 hours and 13 minutes. She saved six of 11 break points and converted seven of 18 break chances.
No. 6 seed Karolina Pliskova opened the grass-court event with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alycia Parks. The other seeded players in action were not so fortunate, as No. 4 Clara Burel fell 6-3, 6-3 to Australia’s Daria Saville and Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini outlasted No. 7 Zhu Lin of China 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-5.
Libema Open
Seventh-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 first-round win against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
After losing the opening game, Vekic won eight straight to take control of the match. Vekic only faced two break points in the 73-minute contest and saved one.
Only one other match was completed on a rainy day, with Belgium’s Greet Minnen posting a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Rebeka Masarova of Spain. Minnen broke Masarova’s serve for the fourth time to win the match.
