WTA wrap: Kerber survives Monterrey scare

Angelique Kerber survived a first set scare against Francesca Schiavone in Monterrey, while Sam Stosur got her Charleston campaign off to a winning start.

Kerber survives in Monterrey

World No.1 Angelique Kerber narrowly escaped a first round exit after world No.152 Francesca Schiavone took the first set off the German. Kerber, who is struggling to rediscover the form that catapulted her to the top spot, downed the Italian 4-6 6-0 6-4.

Defending champion Heather Watson began the defence of her title with a hard-fought win over Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic.

The British No.3 bounced back from losing a tight second-set tie-break to eventually triumph 6-2 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 in a match lasting almost three hours.

It marked a welcome return to winning ways for Watson, who has struggled for form this year and crashed out in the first round in Miami last week.

She is currently 125 in the world, having threatened the top 50 after beating Kirsten Flipkens to claim her third career title in the same tournament last year.

Watson will next face sixth seed Ekaterina Makarova with the possibility of taking on world No.1 Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals.

Stosur off to winning start in Charleston

Samantha Stosur has started her claycourt season with a straight-sets win over former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic at the WTA tournament in Charleston.

No.6 seed Stosur won the second-round match 6-1 6-3 in an hour and 13 minutes.

“I’ve had eight hours of practice on clay courts, so all in all, I’m pleased with how I started the match and got through it in straight sets,” Stosur told the WTA website.

“A lot of it comes down to the serve; if I can hit my spots and be accurate, it’ll be hard for my opponent.

Stosur, who won the Charlestown event in 2010, will play Irina-Camelia Begu or Kristina Kucova in the third round.

Stosur’s fellow Australian Anastasia Rodionova moved in to the second round with an impressive 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 win over China’s Ying-Ying Duan.

The win is the 34-year-old Rodionova’s first main draw singles victory since October 2015 when she advanced to the second round of the Hong Kong Open.

Once she took the first set in a tie-break, Rodionova steamrolled her way through the second, losing only four points on serve as she rattled Duan.

She will now play either Italian veteran Sara Errani or American qualifier Grace Min in the second round.

Australian No.9 seed Daria Gavriolva begins her campaign with a second round match against American Alison Riske on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Seeded players to progress to the second round were , the 11th seed, and China’s .

Other first-round winners were Australian Open semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Lucie Safarova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Shelby Rogers, Mona Barthel, Fanny Stollar, Shuai Zhang, Annika Beck, Magda Linette and Daria Kasatkina, on a busy day of action after rain curtailed play on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

American 14th seed Lauren Davis was beaten 7-5 6-4 by world number 91 Maria Sakkari of Greece while 12th seed Yulia Putintseva was beaten 4-6 6-2 6-4 by Poland’s Magda Linette.