Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic saved the only break point she faced and dispatched No. 8 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the first round of the Monterrey Open on Tuesday in Mexico.

Pavlyuchenkova hit six aces but also helped Ruzic by committing eight double faults. Ruzic’s second-round opponent will be Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who claimed a 6-3, 6-4 victory over France’s Leolia Jeanjean.

Alycia Parks needed just 61 minutes to sweep Cristina Bucsa of Spain 6-2, 6-1, advancing to face countrywoman and No. 1 seed Emma Navarro. Not to be outdone, Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova defeated Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez 6-0, 6-3 in a mere 58 minutes.

Later in the evening, No. 6 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic saved a set point in the second-set tiebreaker while getting by Lulu Sun of New Zealand 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7), while wild card Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia edged Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1).

Tennis in the Land

Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova reached her first WTA Tour-level semifinal thanks to one win and one withdrawal Tuesday in Cleveland.

Zakharova won 23 of 32 first-service points (71.9 percent) as she eliminated No. 8 seed Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-3 in their Round of 16 match. Inclement weather Tuesday meant that only one other match was completed, as Germany’s Eva Lys beat Russian Polina Kudermetova 6-4, 6-3.

However, Lys then withdrew from the event, according to the WTA website, allowing Zakharova to reach the semifinals via walkover.

Baptiste’s loss continued seeded players’ run of misfortune in Cleveland. In the first round alone, the third, fifth, sixth and seventh seeds were shown the door.

–Field Level Media