American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger advanced to the second round of the Western & Southern Open by beating Croat Donna Vekic, the No 16 seed and recent Olympic silver medallist in women’s singles, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Krueger, who beat former world No 1 Naomi Osaka in the qualifying rounds and is currently ranked No 65, will face the winner of the match between Russian Diana Shnaider and Chinese Shuai Zhang next.
The win continues a good run of form for the American, who qualified and reached the third round in Toronto last week. This was the first time that Krueger was playing in Cincinnati, a tournament where she came to watch as a spectator when she was just 12 years old.
“I came here with my family when I was 12, it’s the only pro tournament I’ve ever been to — twice,” Krueger said. “So to play here on this court, I remember watching from the stands.”
Cincinnati WTA 1000, other first-round matches (Lindner Family Tennis Center, hard, USD 3,211,715):
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