Following Serena Williams’ pre-tournament withdrawal, the 2015 Bank of the West Classic has also lost the second-highest ranked American player on Wednesday, since Madison Keys failed to back up her impressive performance in the first round.
Facing close friend Ajla Tomljanovic, Keys’ match started out on a high note, with the young American taking the first set by storm. After consulting with coach Jon Leach, the match suddenly started slipping away from Keys in the second set, her errors started mounting and her mood went down.
As the American was crumbling, Tomljanovic kept her foot on the gas pedal, sealing a convincing three-set win to add a high note to what had been a pretty disappointing summer for the young soon-to-be Australian so far.
After her big win, a very talkative Tomljanovic opened up to the press about her recent split from Australian coach Dave Taylor, her new coaching arrangement that started this week as well as her newfound home in Brisbane.
Earlier in the day, the fans were entertained by a furious all-German battle between Andrea Petkovic & Mona Barthel. Petkovic had overcome German youngster Carina Witthöft, taking the match to three sets. Against Barthel, going the distance didn’t do the trick for the popular German, as Barthel remained victorious after all was said and done in a 2:33hr nail-biter of a match.
The second match of the day went considerably more straightforward, much to the delight of the crowd, as yet another American moved on in the tournament when Alison Riske beat #3 seed Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets. Clinching just her second ever Top 10 win, Riske handed Suarez Navarro her fourth consecutive straight-set loss. The Spaniard is rapidly losing ground in the race to Singapore ever since the clay season ended.
The tournament’s second round will complete on Thursday as top seeds Caroline Wozniacki & Agnieszka Radwanska are finally due to kick off their Bank of the West Classic assault. While Radwanska will be playing the day session, Wozniacki is scheduled for the final night singles match, giving her the latest possible start into the tournament.
I thought Venus was the #2 American behind Serena?