Clara Tauson Kicks Off MUSC Health Women’s Open With a Win

Clara Tauson is your first winner at the MUSC Health Women’s Open, a WTA 250 event in Charleston. The 18-year-old Danish player took a tumble in the second set of her first round match against Liudmila Samsonova today, but came back after a medical timeout to take the match, 6-3, 6-3. Over the course of five break points, Samsonova was unable to save a single one. With the win, Tauson’s a solid 22-4 in matches this year, having won her first title in Lyon just last month.

The left knee “wasn’t good in the match but I think the adrenaline took some of the pain,” she told me after the match. “Right now, I can walk fine so I hope it’s going to be fine. I hope maybe I can get a day off tomorrow, just to feel it on court. It looked in the match that it was worse to walk than it was to play in the match.”

Tauson will face either Renata Zarazua of Mexico or Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of this event.

—S. Fogleman