In a hard-fought opening round match at the Charleston Open on Monday, Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan overcame New Zealand’s Lulu Sun with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory after navigating a challenging first-set tiebreaker.
The opening set featured no service breaks through regulation play, and the tiebreaker remained deadlocked through nine points. Sun managed to secure a mini-break and held two opportunities to claim the set, but Putintseva fought back to erase both chances and won the final two points to take the set. The Kazakhstani player then dominated the closing stages, capturing the match’s last four games. Her prize for advancing will be a Wednesday second-round clash against top-seeded defending champion Jessica Pegula.
While no seeded competitors took the court Monday, the Charleston clay courts featured two matchups between American players. McCartney Kessler came from behind to defeat lucky loser Elvina Kalieva 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Alycia Parks mounted a comeback victory over Mary Stoiana 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the day’s final contest.
Additional first-round results saw Katie Volynets rally past Germany’s Eva Lys 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, while Ukraine’s Danaya Yastremska defeated Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova 7-5, 6-2. Florida’s 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo advanced when Argentina’s Solana Sierra retired while trailing 7-5, 3-0. Mexico’s Renata Zarazua dominated Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-0, Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova beat Jen Brady 6-4, 6-3, Hungary’s Anna Bondar edged Czechia’s Darja Vidmanova 7-5, 7-5, and Croatia’s Donna Vekic outlasted Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Meanwhile, at the Copa Colsanitas tournament in Bogota, Colombia, both seeded players competing on opening day advanced but in contrasting styles. Fourth-seeded Tatiana Maria, age 38, cruised past Colombian wild card Valentina Arias 6-2, 6-1, while eighth-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary navigated a roller-coaster match against Colombia’s Maria Torres Murcia, winning 6-1, 1-6, 6-0.
In an all-American encounter, 17-year-old Californian wild card Julieta Pareja defeated Elizabeth Mandlik 6-3, 6-3. Other results included Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa routing France’s Carole Monnet 6-1, 6-0, Greece’s Despina Papamichail beating Russia’s Anastasia Tikhonova 6-3, 6-1, and Argentine wild card Julia Riera defeating French qualifier Selena Janicijevic 7-6 (5), 6-1.
