Kasatkina knocks out Gauff in Stuttgart Open 1st round

STUTTGART, Germany, April 20, (AP): American Coco Gauff was knocked out in the first round of the Stuttgart Open after a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Daria Kasatkina.

The 18-year-old Gauff seemed in control when she was 4-0 up in the opening set but Kasatkina recovered to win the next six games, then only dropped two more as she wrapped up the win in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

The Russian player next faces the seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur, who defeated Marketa Vondrousova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Earlier, Bianca Andreescu defeated Germany’s Jule Niemeier 7-6 (5), 6-3 in her first match since October. The former world No. 4 next faces last year’s finalist Aryna Sabalenka for what will be their first tour-level meeting.

Elena Rybakina defeated another young German qualifier, Nastasja Schunk, 7-6 (3), 7-5 and next meets the second-seeded Paula Badosa in the second round.

Eva Lys, a 20-year-old Ukrainianborn German, delighted the home fans by beating Viktorija Golubic 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 on her professional debut. Their match lasted 3 hours and 9 minutes, the joint fourth-longest WTA main-draw match this year. The 342nd-ranked Lys had come through as a qualifying wildcard.

In Barcelona, Spain, Second-seeded Casper Ruud defeated American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round of the Barcelona Open.

TENNIS

Ruud, seeking his second title of the season after winning in Argentina in February, broke serve four times to comfortably get past his 81st-ranked opponent.

Ruud reached his maiden Masters 1000 final in Miami in March, losing to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.

Sixth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina defeated American Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2 to set up a rematch against Lorenzo Musetti, who advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (8) win over 12th-seeded Daniel Evans.

The 15th-ranked Schwartzman defeated Musetti in the round of 16 at Monte Carlo before losing to eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals.