First round action was completed in s-Hertogenbosch on Monday with the top seeds safely through to the second round, although the top seed was forced to fight in her return from a back injury. All but one match was completed in straight sets, so here’s what happened on day two at the Ricoh Open.
Results
Belinda Bencic, seeded first in s-Hertogenbosch, made her return from a back injury on Tuesday. After two months on the sidelines, the Swiss was forced to shake off some rust in a tight match with Alison van Uytvanck, eventually emerging victorious 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4). Bencic got off to a flying start breaking twice and not allowing her opponent a single break point chance in the opening frame. While she kept her return level up in the second, breaking three more times, she began to struggle on serve and was broken four times to send the match to a decider. The third set was tight, with each woman scoring a pair of points before Bencic came up clutch in the deciding set tiebreak to claim her first victory since Indian Wells in March.
Second seed Jelena Jankovic had far less trouble in her opening match, topping Katerina Siniakova in straight sets. While Jankovic did struggle to hold on to her serve, her return game was strong, scoring two breaks in the first set, three in the second set and 51 percent of her overall return points in the 6-4, 6-2 victory. Third seed Kristina Mladenovic had a near identical opening round match, breaking serve five times in a 6-4, 6-3 win. Jelena Ostapenko had the easiest opening match of the top seeds, dominating qualifier Jovana Jaksic in a 6-1, 6-0 route.
There was one seeded casualty on day two, as eighth seed Anna-Lena Friedsam had a brutal day on serve, only saving one break point while being broken eight times and only winning 41 percent of her service points in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic. Former Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni fell in straight sets to Aleksandra Krunic. The match was tight through the opening set, but the wheels fell off for Lucic-Baroni in the first set tiebreak, which she lost 7-0, and she could not recover in the second set, eventually falling 7-6(0), 6-1.
In other action, local wildcard Richel Hogenkamp topped qualifier Eri Hozumi in straight sets. American veteran Varvara Lepchenko advanced when Polona Hercog retired down a set and two breaks. Evgeniya Rodina defeated Dalma Galfi, while Risa Ozaki topped Kristen Flipkens, both in straight sets. Kateryna Kozlova and Nao Hibino both needed opening set tiebreaks before going on to win in straight sets, with Kozlova advancing courtesy of her opponent’s retirement.
The second round will get underway tomorrow.