Volynets beats Riske-Amritraj as women's tennis arrives in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Women's professional tennis made its WTA tournament debut in the capital of Texas on Monday, and Katie Volynets beat Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in an all-American matchup to reach the second round of the ATX Open.

The 21-year-old Volynets, who is ranked a career-high 92nd this week, was broken only once in the match while taking four games served by the 58th-ranked Riske-Amritraj, including all three in the final set.

In January, Volynets qualified for the Australian Open and reached the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, upsetting No. 9 seed Veronika Kudermetova.

Volynets next faces No. 3 seed Anastasia Potapova or wild-card entry Elizabeth Mandlik, whose mother, Hana Mandlikova, won four Grand Slam singles titles. Potapova and Mandlik are scheduled to play each other Tuesday.

In other Day 1 results at the hard-court tournament, 151st-ranked Mirjam Bjorklund, who got into the field via a wild-card invitation, eliminated 50th-ranked Alycia Parks 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; qualifier Heather Watson beat Danka Kovinic 7-6 (2), 6-4; and Anna Blinkova defeated qualifier Ann Li 6-4, 6-4.

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