Tennis: Patricia Tig qualifies for second round of US Open

Romanian tennis player Patricia Tig qualified for the second round of the US Open, which is taking place in a secure bubble at the Flushing Meadows arenas in New York, after easily knocking out on Tuesday Japanese Kurumi Nara 6-1, 6-0.

Tig (26 years old, 88th in the WTA rankings) won in just 58 minutes against Japanese Nara (28 years old, 142nd in the WTA). The Romanian had more direct winning balls, 17-7, and made fewer unforced errors, 12-21.

Patricia Tig got her first victory over Japan's Nara, who had won the first two matches, both in 2016.

The Romanian qualified for the first time in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament, having only four participations so far in the four major competitions, in which she lost each time in the inaugural round.

Tig secured a check for 100,000 dollars and 70 WTA points, and in the next round she will face Croatian Donna Vekic (24 years old, 24th in the WTA), victorious over Czech Kristyna Pliskova 3 -6, 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Vekic has 2-1 in direct matches with Tig, which she defeated in 2017, in the first round in Monterrey, 6-4, 6-1, and in the same year in the qualifying rounds in Toronto, 6-4, 6 -2. The only victory of the Romanian was recorded in 2015, in the quarterfinals in Baku, 6-3, 6-2.

In another match played on Tuesday in New York, Mihaela Buzarnescu (32 years old, 122nd in the WTA) was defeated by the American Sloane Stephens (27 years old, 39th in the WTA), 6-3, 6-3.

Stephens, champion at the US Open in 2017, won in one hour and 17 minutes, in which Buzarnescu made 7 double mistakes and twice as many unforced errors against her opponent, 33-15.

Also on Tuesday, Sorana Cirstea qualified for the second round, after defeating Christina McHale (USA), 6-4, 7-5.

On Monday, Irina Begu was eliminated by the Czech Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-2.

The players defeated in the first round received 61,000 dollars and 10 WTA points.