Top two women’s seeds Karolina Pliskova, Sofia Kenin fall at Western and Southern Open

The Western and Southern Open lost its top two women`s seeds on Sunday with number one Karolina Pliskova and number two Sofia Kenin crashing out of the U.S. Open tune-up event.

Czech Pliskova, who had a first-round bye, slammed down 11 aces but also committed nine double faults in a 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Russia`s Veronika Kudermetova.

Australian Open champion Kenin also struggled to get going after the COVID-19 layoff, losing 6-1,7-6(7) to France`s Alize Cornet, who beat American wildcard Catherine McNally 6-0 6-4 in the opening round, dropping just 10 points in the first set.

“It didn`t feel like I had any rhythm,” said Kenin. “I don`t know why I let that happen.”

“I literally couldn`t feel the ball, like literally two sets. I don`t even know how I came back, to be honest.”
“It was really frustrating.”

Marketa Vondrousova continued her run of poor form as the Czech 10th seed lost 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4 to German qualifier Laura Siegemund in a first-round clash.

2019 French Open finalist Vondrousova, who also made a first-round exit at the WTA Tour`s restart in Palermo, was up a break 4-2 in the third and looking set for victory until Seigemund swept the last four games.

Estonian 12th seed Anett Konaveit, coming off a runner-up finish in Palermo, moved into the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Russian lucky loser Daria Kasatkina, while 14th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium thumped Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-0, 6-2.

In the men`s draw, Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eased to a 6-1, 6-3 second-round win over South Africa`s Kevin Anderson while seventh seed David Goffin sailed past Croatia`s Borna Coric 7-6(6) 6-4 into the third round.

Ninth seed Diego Schwartzman was a 7-6(2), 6-3 first-round winner over Norway`s Casper Rudd while 11th seeded Russian Karen Khachanov topped Kazakhstan`s Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-4.
Bulgarian 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov disposed of Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-4.