Americans Abound on Terrific Tuesday

Nearly half of the remaining ATX Open singles players are Americans after five players who represent the USA were winners on Tuesday.

Both seeded Americans were victorious as they made their Austin debuts Tuesday. Fifth seed Sloane Stephens was efficient in a 6-3, 6-3 win over countrywoman Taylor Townsend while fourth seed Danielle Collins had to battle to escape with a 6-7(7), 6-2, 6- 4 win over Magdalena Frech.

Stephens was one of four winners of all-American battles Tuesday, two of which featured teenagers. Coco Vandeweghe pushed past 18-year-old Robin Montgomery for a 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-6(3) win while Caty McNally defeated 18-year-old Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-3.

The final all-USA match saw Madison Brengle advance in straight sets against Louisa Chirico.

Erika Andreeva was not originally on the Tuesday schedule, but she made the most of her opportunity to take the court. When No. 2 seed Shuai Zhang withdrew due to illness, the 18-year-old Andreeva entered the draw as a lucky loser. She then battled to a 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(3) win over Harriet Dart. The match lasted 3:32, the longest of the WTA season.

Top seed Magda Linette, who had reached the Australian semifinals last month, was an upset victim Tuesday. For the fourth time in as many events this season, Varvara Gracheva advanced to the second round after beating Linette 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

With Linette and Zhang out, No. 3 Anastasia Potapova is now the highest remaining seed after she defeated American Elizabeth Mandlik in under an hour 6-2, 6-0. The 21-year-old Potapova picked up her second career WTA title just three weeks ago in Linz.

The fourth remaining seed in the ATX Open is No. 8 Marta Kostyuk. The 20-year old who has already reached a pair of quarterfinals this season defeated Dalma Glafi 7-5, 6-1.

Anna Kalinskaya and Anna-Lena Friedsam were the other singles winners on Tuesday.

In doubles action, the No. 1 team from the University of Texas – Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova – took advantage of their wild card entry to defeat Beatrice Gumulya and Yu-Chieh Hsieh and advance to the ATX Open quarterfinals.