Sixteen-year-old tennis player Linda Fruhvirt managed a three-hundred-meter duel with Anna Konjuh at the beginning of the tournament in Charleston and advanced to the 2nd round on green clay. The Czech player, who starts in the main competition as in the previous elite tournament in Miami on a wild card, turned the unfavorable development of the match and defeated the Croatian opponent 4: 6, 6: 1, 6: 3.
Fruhvirt was unable to use a single breakball against the solidly serving Konjuhs in the opening set and lost the set in 45 minutes. However, she entered the second set vigorously, quickly took the lead 3: 0 and did not let her twenty-four-year-old opponent into the game. The Croatian bought unforced errors and in the windy weather she stopped succeeding in serving. Fruhvirt, on the other hand, was confident at the service, in the second and third sets, the Konjuhs no longer offered any breakball, which crowned the unsuccessful end with three double errors in the final game.
“The important thing was to quickly forget the first set, keep fighting and look for a way to win. And I’m glad I found him,” Fruhvirt said in an interview on the court. She was pleased with how smoothly she managed the transition from concrete in Miami, where she unexpectedly reached the round of 16. “Green clay is very specific, so the transition from concrete is easier than directly to classic clay. I think this surface fits me, I like to play on it, so it was not a big problem for me,” she said.
The Ukrainian Katarina Zavacká also advanced to the second round, who will face Karolína Plíšková in the next duel. She was the third to draw a free lot at the beginning.
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