(Reuters) – Sixth seed CoCo Vandeweghe had barely raised a sweat when her opponent Ajla Tomljanovic retired hurt to hand the American victory in their Stanford Classic first-round encounter in California on Tuesday.
Lasting just 31 minutes, the match was perhaps not quite the workout Vandeweghe would have preferred but she had no complaints after taking the first set 6-2 before her Croatian opponent departed injured.
Vandeweghe then enthused about being on home soil in the build up to the U.S. Open later this month.
“It was disappointing to have a retirement today but I thought I was playing well… This is the moment I love to play, the summer hardcourt series,” she said.
With main attractions Garbine Muguruza, Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova idle, other players took their chance to shine on a good day for Americans.
In a battle of teenagers, qualifier Caroline Dolehide upset Naomi Osaka 6-4 6-2 for her first career victory. She broke the Japanese player four times.
Alison Riske recovered from a break down in the second set to beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-2 6-4.
Another victorious American was Catherline Bellis, a 6-3 6-2 winner over Alizé Cornet of France.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by John O’Brien)
