San Jose (USA) – Experienced North American Shelby Rogers made her debut with a win at the WTA 500 in San Jose. The 29-year-old player and current 45th in the standings overtook Canadian Bianca Andreescu on Tuesday, scoring the partials of 6/4 and 6/2 in 1h31 of the match. It was Rogers’ second victory over the Canadiens, repeating last year’s result in Chicago.

“I think I served very well today and made a lot of comebacks on the field. The first two hits on every run are very important because she can hit winners from anywhere on the field. ground and she moves very well”, evaluated Rogers, 23 winners against 10 by Andreescu and committed 25 faults, two less than his rival. The American got three breaks and didn’t lose any service games.

Rogers faces in the second round the Greek Maria Sakkari, main seed of the tournament and world number 3. The record of clashes is better for the American, who has won the two previous duels, the first at Wimbledon last year and the second this season in Adelaide. “There is no easy game here, she is very confident. I may have won the previous games, but there were two battles, always in detail. I am sure that we will leave everything on the ground.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3LiiHQqiyQ

Andreescu, on the other hand, suffered a knockout on his debut for the first time this year. The Canadian stayed away from the circuit for seven months to take care of her mental health, and did not start the season until April, at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart. The 22-year-old player and former number 4 in the rankings currently occupies 54th place and played in a final in June, on the lawn of Bad Homburg.

FIRST main draw victory on the Tour 💪

Qualified 🇺🇸 @ellimandlikdaughter of four-time Slam champion Hana Mandlikova, beats Riske-Amritraj in San Jose to reach the last 16!#MubadalaSVC pic.twitter.com/UtVx3AMVhF

– wta (@WTA) August 2, 2022

Two other North Americans are favorites. One of them is Elizabeth Mandlik, 21, ranked 240th and daughter of former top 3 Hana Mandlikova. Coming from the qualifications, Mandlik overtook Alison Riske with a 6/3 double and now challenges the Spaniard Paula Badosa, seeded 2 in the event and world number 4.

The lucky loser Caroline Dolehide, 23 and 168th place, won a duel at home against Kayla Day by 7/6 (7-5) and 6/4. Dolehide is the next rival to fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.