Birmingham | Cocciaretto upsets defending champion Ostapenko

No Briton was in action on day one of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham and Jelena Ostapenko’s appearance was short lived, with the No.1 seed stunned by Elisabetta Cocciaretto, while there were wins for seeds Leylah Fernandez and Anastasia Potapova , but Sorana Cîrstea was angry. by Zhu Lin.

Ostapenko lifted the trophy here last year, but her title defense was short-lived as Italy’s Cocciaretto defeated the Latvian 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.

The Latvian, currently ranked 13th in the world, won her second career grass court title last June but could not get past the Italian at Edgbaston Priory Club.

The former Roland Garros champion produced a poor performance in the first set, showing signs of weakness on her second serve and although she settled into the match in the second, Cocciaretto remained in command to earn a solitary break to take 5-2. lead.

Ostapenko, who looked on the verge of a break-through, conjured 4 break points immediately on the Italian’s serve, but failed to convert any of them.

After a strong hold by the reigning champion, coming back from the brink after Cocciaretto won 3 match points, it looked like Ostapenko might be able to pull off a comeback, but Cocciaretto eventually won on serve in her seventh match point, sealing a straight set. victory in one hour and 42 minutes.

Cocciaretto saved 8 of 9 break points while defeating the No. 1 and earned her fourth career Top 20 win, her first on clay.

Jelena Ostapenko had a poor performance against Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Monday in Birmingham

© Paul Harding/Getty Images for LTA

The Italian beats former US Open champion Sloane Stephens after the American beat China’s Yuan Yue 6-3, 6-3.

The opening set alone accounted for 6 of 7 service breaks won by both players in the match, but after winning 3 straight games at the end of the opener, the American moved ahead before consolidating her efforts with a solitary break in the second. seal the match in 1 hour and 27 minutes.

Another Chinese, Zhu Lin, won 7-6(2) 6-2 against Romanian third seed Sorana Cîrstea and will meet Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, who easily defeated the Russian Anna Blinkova, 6-2, 6-1.

No. 6 Canadian top seed Leylah Fernandez easily won 6-1 6-1 over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and will meet Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, who overcame fellow qualifier Camila Osorio of Colombia 6-4 1- 6 6-3.

No. 7 seed Anastasia Potapova won 6-4 6-4 over Russia’s Elina Avanesyan and will face Lucia Bronzetti in the second round after the Italian outlasted Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech 2-6 6-3 6-4.

British No 1 Katie Boulter, fresh from retaining her title in Nottingham on Sunday, is set to make the short trip across the Midlands to start her campaign in Birmingham on Tuesday against Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, with former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the game opening. on Day 2 on Ann Jones Center Court at 11:00am.

Sloane Stephens defeated Yuan Yue on Monday and will play Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the 2nd round

© Paul Harding/Getty Images for LTA