Washington: Badosa beats Kenin to reach second round

Spanish wildcard Paula Badosa won against American Sofia Kenin 6-1, 7-6 (6) to move into the second round of the Washington Open on Tuesday.

Badosa, a former world No 2 who is currently ranked No 62, will play third seed Liudmila Samsonova next at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.

“Feeling really well, physically,” Badosa said as quoted by the WTA Tour. “I had a few weeks to train very hard. Hard courts, I like it. These conditions are not easy. I got used to it pretty well today, I served pretty well.”

The Spaniard had decided to skip the Olympics due to the changing surfaces and said she had to prioritize her health after going through difficult times over the past couple of seasons.

“I’m not going to change surface that quickly, like from grass to clay, then next Toronto hard court,” Badosa said. “For my back was not the best. I have to prioritize my health.”

Washington WTA 500, other first-round results (William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, hard, USD 922,573):

• Peyton Stearns beat Clervie Ngounoue (WC): 6-3, 7-6 (3)
• Victoria Azarenka (6) beat Hailey Baptiste (Q): 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3)
• Taylor Townsend beat Anastasia Potapova (9): 6-2, 6-2
• Marie Bouzkova beat McCartney Kessler (Q): 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
• Kamilla Rakhimova (Q) beat Katie Volynets: 6-4, 6-3
• Amanda Anisimova (Q) beat Sloane Stephens: 6-3, 7-5
• Emma Raducanu (WC) beat Elise Mertens (8): 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
• Robin Montgomery (WC) beat Shelby Rogers: 7-5, 6-3
• Yafan Wang beat Karolina Pliskova: 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
• Caroline Dolehide beat Lesia Tsurenko: 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (7) beat Ashlyn Krueger: 6-3, 4-6, 6-4