Washington, DC (Tennisfiles) – Second seed Sam Stosur of Australia kicked off Tuesday’s action at the 2015 Citi Open with a convincing 6-2 6-2 win against Kristina Mladenovic of France.
British qualifier Naomi Broady had one of the tightest matches of the day, upsetting higher ranked Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 3-6 7-5 7-6(6) in 2:17. She gave Mehrban her thoughts on the match, her warm-up routine, and her favorite pre-match meal in a very enjoyable post-match interview:
American Jack Sock defeated Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 7-6(7) 6-3. He spoke with Mehrban about the tiebreak and gave us a valuable tip on how to develop a good serve.
Aussie Lleyton Hewitt was victorious against fellow Australian John-Patrick Smith, 6-3 6-4. He gave a post-match press conference about the win and discussed his final year on the tour.
In the headliner of the night, second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan was pushed by James Duckworth of Australia, prevailing 6-7(8) 6-1 6-4.
Duckworth played a strong first set, hitting a key ace down set point:
James Duckworth Serve 2015 Citi Open
A Nishikori error at 7-7 gave Duckworth the tiebreak and Japan’s #1 took time on the changeover to regroup.
Kei Nishikori 2015 Citi Open Changeover
Nishikori came roaring back, commanding a 3-0 lead before Duckworth got on the scoreboard.
Kei Nishikori 2015 Citi Open Return
Nishikori was able to break Duckworth early in the third set, and Duckworth could not recover.
Nishikori Duckworth 2015 Citi Open Shake Hands
Nishikori Duckworth Citi Open 2015 Scoreboard
In other action, Sam Querrey narrowly defeated Go Soeda of Japan 6-3 5-7 6-4, Aussie Sam Groth topped Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 7-6(8) 4-6 6-3, and Canadian Vasek Pospisil downed American Donald Young 7-5 6-3.
Top seed Andy Murray plays Teymuraz Gabashvili Wednesday.
