Charleston Open: Jessica Pegula, Daria Kasatkina & Belinda Bencic enter pre-quarters

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Defending Charleston Open titlist Belinda Bencic opened her campaign with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Canada’s Katherine Sebov. The fourth seed needed 61 minutes to kickstart her attempt at title defence. Bencic won 81% of her first-serve points while putting 63% of her first serves in.

Sebov who put in 87% of her first serves could only win 49% of her first-serve points. The Swiss also won 92% of her second-serve points and 83% points on return on Sebov’s second serve. Bencic didn’t face any break point and converted five of nine break points she faced.

Bencic will play Shelby Rogers next. Rogers won a second-round American derby against Cathy McNally. Rogers needed two hours and 51 minutes to post a comeback 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1 win for herself.

Charleston Open: Jessica Pegula gets her outing underway

Rogers’ compatriot, top seed Jessica Pegula also posted a dominant opening-round win to reach the round-of-16.

Pegula lost only two games in a 64-minute long match to win 6-2, 6-0 against Anna Blinkova. Pegula will play 15th seed Irina-Camelia Begu for a chance to reach the quarter-finals. The Romanian beat American Sofia Kenin 6-1, 6-4 in their round-of-32 match.

Third seed Daria Kasatkina also wrapped up a quickfire 6-2, 6-1 win to ease into the third round. Kasatkina defeated Madison Brengle in merely 50 minutes. Kasatkina won 80% of her first-serve points and 67% of her second-serve points.

She also won 72% of points on return on Brengle’s second serve. The 25-year-old didn’t face any break point and converted four of five break points on Brengle’s serve. Lastly, Diana Shnaider posted the sole upset at the Charleston Open on Wednesday.

The teenager ousted fifth seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-3 in their second-round match. The 18-year-old needed an hour and 34 minutes to get the win. Shnaider’s next opponent will be 12th seed Paula Badosa. The Spaniard beat Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 7-6(6) in their round-of-32 clash.

Photo Credit: Charleston Open Twitter