Denmark’s Clara Tauson, 20, knocked out Krejcikova in straight sets
Photo: Tennis in the country
Cleveland (USA) – Cleveland’s top two WTA 250 seeds went in opposite directions in Monday’s round. The French Caroline Garcia won her opening match of the last preparatory tournament for the US Open. Czech Barbora Krejcikova was eliminated early.
World number 7, Garcia beat Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, 18, 6-3, 6-2 in just 1h06 of the match. Even committing six double faults, the Frenchwoman only faced one break point and managed four breaks, two in each set. Her next rival is 58th-ranked North American Peyton Stearns, who was leading Italy’s Martina Trevisan 6/1 and 4/5 when her rival retired.
The top seed has passed 👉
[1] @CaroGarcia exceeds L. Fruhvirtova, 6-3, 6-2 in Cleveland!#TennisInTheLand pic.twitter.com/t9OkDiK5Bh– wta (@WTA) August 21, 2023
“Linda is a young player. I didn’t know her a lot, she’s growing a lot this year. “I need to compete, I need pace of play. Unfortunately, I haven’t been very good the last two weeks. I train well, but sometimes playing more matches is the best training you can have for a Grand Slam.”
12th-ranked Barbora Krejcikova was passed by 20-year-old Dane Clara Tauson, 90th-ranked, who scored 6/4 and 6/1. Tauson even lost the first set by 4/3, but then only conceded one more game until the end of the match. The Dane fired six aces. Her next rival is Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who beat Czech Linda Noskova 6-0, 6-2.
Clara Tauson knocks down No. 2 seed Krejcikova in Cleveland!
She will now face Fernandez in the round of 16 🔜#TennisInTheLand pic.twitter.com/0vFGtu3hTd
– wta (@WTA) August 21, 2023
Looking for rhythm for the last Slam of the year, Krejcikova follows in the doubles table alongside Katerina Siniakova. Last Sunday, the Czechs beat Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok 5/7, 6/3 and 10-7. They will face Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealander Erin Routliffe in the quarterfinals.
Two wins and one loss for the Chinese
Three Chinese players played the trick. Lin Zhu defeated Russian 8th seed Anna Blinkova 6/0 6/3. She faces Austrian Julia Grabher, who avoided a Chinese duel by beating left-hander Xiyu Wang 6/3 6/4. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Xinyu Wang beat France’s Clara Burel 7/6 (7-5), 5/7, 7/5. She faces Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who beat Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-3.
“Prone to fits of apathy. Beer evangelist. Incurable coffeeaholic. Internet expert.”
