WASHINGTON — In an impressive debut for his North American hard-court campaign, top seed Taylor Fritz made waves by blasting 11 aces and deftly saving the sole break point he encountered, clinching a decisive 6-3, 6-2 victory over Aleksandar Vukic at the DC Open on Wednesday.
On the women’s side, second seed Emma Navarro faced a tough exit at the hands of Maria Sakkari, who triumphed 7-5, 7-6 (1). Sakkari had a remarkable run as the 2023 runner-up to Coco Gauff in Washington.
Fritz, fresh off a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, is eager to replicate last year’s impressive form this season, where he reached his inaugural Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open.
Having received a first-round bye, Fritz is set to face off against Matteo Arnaldi in the third round, who earned his spot by overcoming No. 16 Lorenzo Sonego with a scoreline of 7-5, 7-5.
Among the seeded men advancing are No. 7 Alex de Minaur, No. 8 Daniil Medvedev, No. 9 Flavio Cobolli, and No. 11 Jiri Lehecka. However, No. 5 Andrey Rublev suffered a 7-5, 6-2 defeat to 19-year-old American Learner Tien, while No. 10 Alexei Popyrin fell to qualifier Wu Yibing 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. Tien has impressively amassed four top-10 victories this season.
In doubles, Venus Williams’ journey alongside partner Hailey Baptiste came to an end in the second round, succumbing in a champion’s tiebreaker 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to second-seeded pair Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai. The 45-year-old Williams is making her long-awaited return to competition after over a year away, and her first doubles match since 2022, celebrating a victory in their first round on Monday.
Williams is gearing up for her second-round singles match on Thursday against Magdalena Frech. Just two days prior, she made history as the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match, overcoming 23-year-old Payton Stearns in straight sets.
In women’s singles action on Wednesday, unseeded Anna Kalinskaya caused an upset by knocking out No. 8 seed Magda Linette 6-4, 6-0, while No. 4 seed Clara Tauson edged past qualifier Caroline Dolehide with a competitive 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
