Bertens books second-round spot but fourth seed Barthel crashes out

Second seed Kiki Bertens secured her place in round two of the WTA Ladies Championship in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Thedutchwoman,ranked35 in the world, saw off Serbian Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-1. No 4 seed Mona Barthel, however, suffered an early exit when the German world No 50 lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Maria Sakkari, of Greece.

There was, though, no such drama for her compatriot, Carina Witthoeft, the sixth seed, who secured her place in the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win over Spaniard Silvia Soler-espinosa.

Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova also progressed following a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Serbian Nina Stojanovic, while American Louisa Chirico defeated Czech qualifier Tereza Smitkova 7-6 (7/5) 6-4.

German Anna Zaja set up a second-round clash against Bertens after she beat Patricia Maria Tig, of Romania, 6-2, 6-3.

At the BRD Bucharest Open in Romania, second seed Carla Suarez Navarro coasted through her first-round match against Germany’s Annika Beck with a 6-0, 6-1 win in just 55 minutes.

Russia’s No 9 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova also progressed, but had to come from behind to beat Czech player Barbora Krejcikova 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Elsewhere, Cagla Buyukakcay, of Turkey, battled through three sets to beat Slovenia’s Polona Hercog 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), Nadia Podoroska, of Argentina, progressed 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 against Belgian Maryna Zanevska and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, of Belarus, defeated home player Irina Bara 6-4, 6-4. Kirstygilmourhadtosettle for second best at the Yonex Canada Open after losing a close women’s singles final with Japan’s Saena Kawakami. The Scotland star went down 19-21, 21-19, 21-18 in a 69-minute contest.

Gilmour took the first game thanks to a fivepoint burst when trailing 15-14 but Kawakami levelled the match despite Gilmour closing to within a point at 20-19 after another five-point charge.

In the decider it was Kawakami’s turn to produce a fightback. Trailing 13-11 she reeled off five pointsinarowtosetupa winning platform.

Gilmour said: “Today was a mixed bag of emotions. On one hand I’m delighted to have found some form and momentum but on the other hand I came so close to taking the title.

“Kawakami played really well and changed her tactics at just the right time. I also adjusted mine but it came down to a few key points and today she just had the edge.”

Gilmour and her Scotland team-mates now head for the Yonex US Open in Anaheim in what will be her final event before the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017 at Glasgow’semiratesarenafrom 21-27 August.

But Gilmour faces a stern test as she meets India’s second seed Saina Nehwal in the first round on tomorrow’s opening day.

In the men’s singles Kieran Merrilees also has a tough opener against Japanesefourthseedkazumasa Sakai.

Martin Campbell and Patrick Machugh tackle the men’s doubles where they face Sweden’s sixth seeds Richard Eidestedt and Nico Ruponen, while Alex Dunn and Adam Hall, will be up against the Australian fifth seeds Matthew Chau and Sawan Serasinghe. Dunn and Eleanor O’donnell meet American pair Mathew Fogarty and Isabel Zhong.

O’donnell is also in the women’s doubles with Julie Macpherson and they begin against England’s No 8 seeds Lauren Smith and Sarah Walker.