Day two at Volvo Car Open in Charleston was a wild one. Life was not easy for some of the big names in action on Tuesday, including top seed Angelique Kerber, who were forced to battle through tough three setters to survive their openers. Most of the big names were in action on Tuesday as the first round was completed and the second round got underway in Charleston.

Results

Angelique Kerber seemed to be well on her way to an easy victory against Lara Arruabarrena when she cruised through the opening set. But the Spaniard upped her game in the second set and pushed the Australian Open champion to the brink, although she eventually prevailed in a third set tiebreaker to advance to the second round with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) victory. A late break in the second set for the Spaniard sent the match to a deciding set, where the two women would exchange a pair of breaks before Kerber did a better job of holding her nerve in the tiebreak to reach the second round in two hours and 38 minutes.

11th seed Kristina Mladenovic was not so lucky, as she lost an epic deciding set tiebreak 15-13 to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The Croatian saved four matches points in that epic breaker, finally converting her seventh opportunity to wrap up the comeback 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(13) victory in two hours and 44 minutes. Both women reached double digits in break points, with Mladenovic holding 23 break point chances, while Lucic-Baroni held 16. Both women broke eight times, but it would be the Croatian who won the key points in the tiebreak to reach the third round.

Eugenie Bouchard. Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP
Eugenie Bouchard. Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP

The other two big names in action on Tuesday were relatively untroubled, as both 2011 US Open Champion Sam Stosur and young gun Eugenie Bouchard both advanced in straight sets. Stosur faced a strong return game from Aleksandra Krunic, saving 16 of 20 break points, while converting six of her own in the 6-4, 6-4 victory. Bouchard, whose 2015 meltdown started in Charleston last year, also reached double digits in break points saved, defending 10 of 12 break points against her serve, while converting four of her eight chances to claim a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alexandra Dulgheru.

The host Americans suffered mixed fates on day two, as Bethanie Mattek-Sands battled to a tough three set victory over Teliana Periera, while Madison Brengle lost to qualifier Kristina Kucova in straight sets. The advantage went to the hosts, as wildcard Louisa Chirico roared back to defeat qualifier Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

In other action, Monica Puig advanced in straight sets, along with Shuai Zhang and 14th seed Daria Kasatkina. It was a good day for the Kazakhstani women, as both Yaroslava Shvedova and Yulia Putinseva both advanced in straight sets.  

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About the author
Pete Borkowski
Tennis has always been my obsession. What better way to channel that obsession than writing about it? After 18 months of blogging with Sportsblog.com as the writer of A Fan Obsesseds blog, all the while completing my Bachelors in history and French, I joined VAVEL so that I can better share my love and knowledge of tennis with the world.