Osaka gets walkover, Barty tested before winning

NEW YORK: World No. 1, Ashleigh Barty of Australia, extended her winning streak to six with a 6-1, 7-6(7) defeat of Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the first round of the US Open in one hour and 28 minutes.

Fresh off the Cincinnati title and seeking her second Grand Slam trophy of the year after Wimbledon, Barty was flawless against the 2010 finalist in the first set, but needed to battle hard and save one set point to eke out a win in the second.

Zvonareva, bidding for her fifth career win against a reigning world No.1 and first since beating Caroline Wozniacki at the 2011 WTA Finals, did not get going until the fag end of the first set. The Russian won just nine points through the first six games to fall behind 1-5, including only three on Barty's serve.

But Zvonareva forced Barty to save two break points before closing out the opener, and then forced the Wimbledon champion in tough baseline exchanges throughout the second. Competing hard, the 36-year-old twice battled back to level from a break down, and it took Barty's best tennis to get over the line in the tiebreak.

The world No.101 Zvonareva raised her first serve percentage from 65 to 81 per cent in the second set and won six out of eight points at the net. Having been almost unable to return the Barty serve in the first set, Zvonareva began to read its direction and decrease the number of cheap points for the Australian.

Meanwhile Iga Swiatek, the No.7 seed from Poland, got her US Open campaign off to a flying start with a 6-3, 6-4 win over American qualifier Jamie Loeb.

Defending champion Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the US Open by walkover on Wednesday (IANS)

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