Tennis: Bautista Agut beats Safiullin in Barcelona
he Spaniard, who is chasing his 12th ATP Tour crown this week, will meet seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the second round.
Last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia defied breathing difficulties to edge past Colombian youngster Camila Osorio 7-5, 7-6(4) to reach the women’s singles second round at the US Open on Tuesday.
The 2022 runner-up, who turned 29 on Monday, defied breathing difficulties to edge Colombian youngster Camila Osorio just about put the icing on the cake for a belated birthday celebration with a gutsy performance inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Jabeur sprinkled in her trademark drop shots and looping lobs, changing the direction at will, to race 4-1 ahead.
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The Tunisian will next play Czech Republic teenager Linda Noskova, who is a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Madison Brengle, on Thursday.
Ekaterina Alexandrova got the better of Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open women’s singles runner-up from Canada, in a first-round match in the women’s singles competition.
In a tight contest featuring some high drama, Alexandrova was able to seize the initiative to win the match 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4.
In other first-round matches on Day 2, Katie Boulter of the United Kingdom defeated Diane Parry of France 6-4, 6-0 while Maria Tatjana of Germany went down to Petra Martic of Croatia 6-2, 6-1.
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