WTA roundup: Polish seeds win Washington openers
Poland's Magdalena Frech and Magda Linette, the only two seeded players in action on Monday, earned straight-set wins in the first round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington.
Frech, the fifth seed, got past Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-2, 6-4, while eighth-seeded Linette downed Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-4.
Frech picked on Starodubtseva's second serve, winning 13 of 22 points (59.1 percent).
Collins committed 13 double faults while serving just four aces, and she won only 33 percent of her second-serve points.
Greece's Maria Sakkari, the 2023 runner-up in Washington, defeated the United Kingdom's Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-4 in her opener. Two Canadians prevailed, as Leylah Fernandez topped Australia's Maya Joint 6-3, 6-3, and Victoria Mboko beat Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-4.
Livesport Prague Open
No. 8 seed Alycia Parks cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Japan's Mai Hontama in the first round at Prague.
Parks was inconsistent with her serve in the 77-minute match, offsetting 10 aces with eight double faults, but she saved five of six break points and converted four of seven.
No. 2 seed Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia outlasted Czech Jesika Maleckova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Home hopeful and No. 5 seed Marie Bouzkova smashed China's Xinyu Gao 6-0, 6-2. No. 9 Ann Li was a 7-6 (1), 6-3 winner against Australia's Astra Sharma. Also winning in straight sets were Czech Sara Bejlek and Italians Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Lucrezia Stefanini.
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