American Lauren Davis, from the qualifying phase, surprised Jelena Ostapenko, who seeded No. 11, in two sets, Tuesday, in the first round of the Italian Open.
Davis, no. 102 in the WTA rankings, was able to beat a top-20 player for the first time this season.
The American, without complication, maintains pressure on his Latvian opponent, who is uncomfortable with serving (only 47% victory on his first ball in the match).
Davis, 28, offered 11 break points and converted 6, while serving well on his own (86% of points earned on his first serve, 3 break points saved from 5).
Ostapenko, 13th in the world, suffered in the exchanges, making 24 unforced errors against 7 for his opponent.
For the winner of the French Open in 2017, this is the fifth loss in many games since his semi-final in February in Qatar.
Lauren Davis will face in the second round the winner of the match (ongoing) between Elina Avanesyan, 146th in the world, resulting from the qualifying stages and Elena Rybakina, No. 17 in the world, from Kazakhstan.
It will be recalled that Canadian Bianca Andreescu will face later on Tuesday in the first round of Briton Emma Raducanu, seeded No. 10 of the tournament and defending champion of the United States Open.
Other results of the day:
- Jil Teichmann (SUI) defeated Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 6-3, 6-2
- Madison Brengle (USA) defeated Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 6-4, 6-3
- Amanda Anisimova (USA) defeated Tereza Martincova (CZE) 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
Source: Radio-Canada
