First round commences at the 2015 Internationaux de Strasbourg

May 17, 2015

After two days of qualifying action, the main draw of the 2015 Internationaux de Strasbourg kicked off on Sunday with half of the first-round players in action.

Opening the day on center court was Shelby Rogers, the American clinched a quick and painless straight-set win over Aleksandra Krunic.

The next match between Virginie Razzano & Mona Barthel was unfortunately cut short as the German had to retire with a wrist-injury following two unsuccessful medical timeouts. The shortened match gave way to a fashion show that was held on center court afterwards to entertain the fans.

After this somewhat unusual change of pace, Ajla Tomljanovic faced off with Madison Brengle, who has enjoyed a spectacular 2015 season so far, rising to #35 in the rankings after having been virtually unknown on the WTA tour just 12 months ago. Sunday proved to be a day to forget for the American though, as Tomljanovic came out guns blazing and, similar to her win over Belinda Bencic in Madrid, never let her opponent back in the match, clinching a quick 47-minute straight-set win.

The soon-to-be Australian will be playing Shelby Rogers next and another victory might put her team into somewhat of a dilemma, since Tomljanovic is sharing her coach Dave Taylor with Samantha Stosur, the player that might be waiting for her in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The final match on center court was another quick affair, as American Sloane Stephens needed less than an hour to end the Strasbourg run of qualifier Nadiia Kichenok, clinching a routine straight-set win.

Unfortunately, the day also had a bit of bad news in store. Julia Görges has withdrawn from the tournament due to illness, giving way to lucky loser Oceane Dodin as the Strasbourg crowd gets to cheer on yet another local hero on Monday!

First-round play will continue tomorrow, including the cracking match-up between Samantha Stosur & reigning Strasbourg champion Monica Puig, the all-French duel between Kristina Mladenovic & Pauline Parmentier as well as the first match of former world #1 Jelena Jankovic.