Top Seeds Lasso Tuesday Triumphs

The top two seeds at the ATX Open took different routes to the second round on Tuesday. Top-seeded Jessica Pegula advanced when Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands retired trailing the World No. 4 American 6-3, 3-2. Rus, who received treatment on her left leg, had taken a 2-0 lead in the second set but was broken twice before she retired. Fans on center court made up for lost tennis time by singing “Happy Birthday” to Pegula, who turned 31 on Monday.

As matches went from day to night, so did the day’s storyline. Second-seeded Diana Shnaider had to fight for her first-round victory. The 13th-ranked player was down 1-4 in the third set and had to serve for the match twice before defeating qualifier Tatiana Prozorova, 0-6, 6-2, 7-5. Shnaider, who came onto the court wearing a cowboy hat, thrived on the support she got throughout the match. She gave kudos to the night match attendees for pushing her through her tough fought victory and ended the evening with a celebratory ‘yee haw’ as she moved on in the draw.

Despite having the crowd behind her, third-seeded Peyton Stearns lost to the 2023 ATX Open finalist Varvara Gracheva, 6-2, 6-3. Stearns, who won national titles while playing at the University of Texas at Austin, has been battling illness of late.

While it wasn’t an upset on paper, Jodie Burrage of Great Britain derailed Petra Kvitova’s return to tennis, defeating the two-time Wimbledon champion, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in her first match back since having a baby in July. Kvitova started off by breaking her 25-year-old opponent twice in the opening set. But it was Burrage who ultimately secured the victory and delivered a career-high 14 aces, capitalizing on the 34-year-old Kvitova’s lack of recent match play.