WTA roundup No 3 seed Peyton Stearns ousted in Austin

Frances Varvara Gracheva fended off 5 of 6 break points to defeat No. 3 seed Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 32 at the ATX Open on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Stearns, who had six aces with six double faults, saved three match points but not a fourth in the final game of the match.

No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula led Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-3, 3-2 when Rus retired due to injury. No. 2 seed Diana Shnaider eked past fellow Russian Tatiana Prozorova 0-6, 6-2, 7-5, and Great Britains Jodie Burrage hit a career-high 14 aces to beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Other early winners included Caroline Dolehide, Germanys Tatjana Maria, Japans Ena Shibahara, Belgiums Greet Minnen and Spaniard Cristina Bucsa. Two more matches remained Monday night: Romanias Sorana Cirstea against Germanys Laura Siegemund and Dutch eighth seed Suzan Lamens against Russias Kamilla Rakhimova.

Merida Open Akron

Daria Saville of Australia converted 6 of 10 break points to upset No. 6 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (6) in first-round action in Merida, Mexico.

Saville rallied out of a 3-0 deficit early in the second set as well as a 2-0 hole to start the ensuing tiebreaker. She saved one set point at 6-5 on her way to winning the final three points of the match, taking down the 19th-ranked player in the world.

Croatias Petra Martic swept past Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-3. Polands Magda Linette and Slovakias Rebecca Sramkova also won in straight sets, and Francesca Jones of Great Britain led 6-4, 3-0 when Egyptian opponent Mayar Sherif retired.

Two remaining matches pitted Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari against Turkeys Zeynep Sonmez and Romanias Jaqueline Cristian against Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva.

--Field Level Media REUTERS

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