Round one was completed, with the exception of the Jil Teichmann v Veronika Kudermetova match scheduled first up tomorrow on Centre Court. A major upset amongst the results.
Samsung Open presented by cornèr - a WTA International category tournament, on Red Clay, in Lugano, Switzerland, 8-14 April 2019.
Defending champion:
Elise Mertens (2) who defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 6-2.
First round results
- German qualifier Antonia Lottner, ranked 182, defeated Belinda Bencic (1), the Swiss #1, and major attraction for the local crowd, hoping to see their player triumph. The two had met before, in a lower tier tour match in France 2017, where Bencic took the chocolates. Also in the 2013 Roland Garros Junior final, again Bencic prevailing. However today the Swiss player, who had taken all before her this year, was no match for her opponent.
The good start for Bencic, breaking Lottner in the opening game with a backhand winner, and solid consolidating service hold was halted in the eighth game when Lottner broke back to love. The German forehand was working to her advantage, and coming to the net more often was paying off as well.
Two more love games, one each, led to game 12, where Bencic went to the line at 5-6, serving to stay in the set.
Bencic had two chances to send it to a tie break. Both were lost. On one of them a Lottner backhand was too good. On the second break point, a forehand return was unleashed and Bencic was defenceless; the set was done.
Bencic lost her opening serve in set two, the final shot a backhand winner from Lottner, and trailed by that break through five games. When Lottner cracked the Swiss delivery for a second time to lead 5-1, a killer forehand doing the damage once more, the finish line was just a step away. Match points emerged on two occasions serving for victory, but each time were dashed. Bencic broke back on her second opportunity, but it was really delaying the inevitable.
Lottner reached a third match point in the next game on the Bencic serve, and appropriately a forehand down the line winner won the contest for Antonia Lottner 7-5 6-2.
- Kristyna Pliskova defeated qualifier Ylena In-Albon 6-4 7-5
- Timea Bacsinszky defeated Tamara Korpatsch 6-0 6-2, a win for the Swiss crowd to somewhat assuage the Bencic upset.
- Viktoria Kuzmova (3) defeated qualifier Giulia Gatto-Monticone 6-2 6-2
- Iga Swiatek defeated qualifier Katarina Zavatska 6-3 6-0, in a battle of the teenagers
- Evgeniya Rodina defeated qualifier Clara Tauson 6-7(2) 6-2 7-5
- Vera Lapko (8) defeated qualifier Réka-Luca Jani 6-2 2-6 6-2
- Stefanie Voegele defeated Pauline Parmentier (5) 6-2 6-4, another Swiss victory
- Fiona Ferro defeated Mandy Minella 6-2 7-5
- Rebecca Peterson (7) defeated qualifier Magdalena Frech 6-3 7-6(2)
- Polona Hercog defeated Carla Suarez Navarro (2) 3-6 6-3 6-4, in the second major upset of the day.
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