Elementary for Watson as Brit stuns Putintseva
Kalinskaya and Maria also win in Hua Hin
Britain’s Heather Watson stunned second seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the first round of the WTA International Series Thailand Open 2023 in Hua Hin yesterday.
World No.160 Watson came from behind to beat No.44 Putintseva 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) at True Arena Hua Hin Sports Club.
Japanese world No.139 Nao Hibino sealed a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 victory against No.230 Valeria Savinykh of Russia to reach the last 16 round of the US$250,000 tournament.
Sixth seed Tatjana Maria of Germany also had a light workout as the world No.63 defeated Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 6-2, 6-2.
Fourth seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia needed only 45 minutes to finish off compatriot Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-1.
Han Na-Lae of South Korea beat Elena Gabriela Ruse from Romania 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
On Monday night, Thai teenager Lanlana Tararudee lost to world No.153 Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden 6-2, 6-4 in her WTA Tour debut.
Top seed Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner from Canada, was playing British player Harriet Dart last night.
The tournament ends on Sunday.
NO ACTION AGAINST ZVEREV
Former world No.2 Alexander Zverev will face no disciplinary action from the ATP after an independent investigation found “insufficient evidence” to substantiate allegations of domestic abuse, it was announced yesterday.
The German player became the subject of an ATP-commissioned probe
in October 2021 following allegations made by his former girlfriend Olya Sharypova. Zverev had denied all of the allegations.
The ATP said in a statement: “A major independent investigation into Alexander Zverev has found insufficient evidence ... As a result, no disciplinary action will be taken by ATP.”