The grass court season is underway! First round action got going on Monday at the Ricoh Open Grass Court Championships with four matches, including three seeded players. There were some surprises on day one in the Netherlands, so let’s take a look back at the first day of the grass court season.
Results
The big surprise of the day saw former Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard go crashing out in her opening match in only 52 minutes. Her conqueror was world number 171 Elise Mertens, who crushed the Canadian 6-2, 6-0. Mertens got off to a strong start but met with some resistance from Bouchard. Both women were not at their best on serve, but it was the Belgian who limited her opponent’s chances, only allowing one break against her serve, while scoring three of her own. The second set went entirely the way of the Belgian. Bouchard only won nine points in the entire second set, five on her serve and four on her return, as Mertens raced through the final frame who seal the upset.
Another upset saw fifth seed Laura Siegemund fall in three sets to Madison Brengle. The American defended her serve well, while piling pressure on her opponents serve to eventually emerge victorious 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Siegemund struggled in the opening set on serve, only managing to win half of her service points, allowing Brengle to break twice, only managing to reclaim one of them. The German turned the tables in the second set, buckling down and defending her serve well, not allowing a break point while having six chances of her own, converting the one she needed to send the match to a decider. But Brengle retook the initiative in the decider, holding seven break points and converting three to pull off the upset.
Coco Vandeweghe avoided the seed exodus with a straight-sets win over Dutch qualifier Indy De Vroome. Unlike her fellow seeds, the sixth seed dominated her own serve, saving the only two break points she faced in the 6-2, 6-4 victory. The American only lost two points on her first serve in the opening set and broke twice for the early lead. De Vroome put up more of a fight in the second set, matching Vandeweghe nearly shot for shot. Both women only held one break point opportunity in the second, with the American converting her chance and defending her serve for the remainder to reach the second round.
The only other match of the day saw qualifier Natalia Vikhlyantseva defeat Denisa Allertova in straight sets. The Russian did not face a single break point and scored four breaks of her own, two in each set, to advance to the second round. First round action will continue tomorrow in s-Hertogenbosch.