Qualifiers Set on Steamy Sunday at Citi Open
Steve Fogleman and Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

WASHINGTON (July 17)–Don’t get sick of hearing about the hot weather at Citi Open in Washington this week, because you’ll be hearing about it all week. Seriously, who thought back in February that it would be a good idea to deck the ball kids out in black this year? These kids are warriors, but damn.

When I first saw Varvara Flink’s name, I immediately thought of Tracy Flick from the movie Election. Well, tenacity might be something Flick and Flink have in common, because Flink came back from being BAGELED in the first set to snatching a three-set victory from Japan’s Hiroko Kuwata, 0-6, 6-2, 6-4. She moves on to the main draw, but so will Kuwata as a lucky loser. Both players will need to summon the power of Tracy Flick tomorrow, as Flink takes on Putintseva and Kuwata is rewarded with Caroline Wozniacki.

American Lauren Albanese was a 7-5, 6-1 victor over Japan’s Shuko Aoyoma. Alla Kudryavtseva made short work of China’s Shilin Xu, 6-4, 6-4, but China’s Lin Zhu got the better of American Sanaz Marand, 6-2, 6-3 to become the final WTA qualifier of the tournament. For Kudryavtseva, she earns a date with Sam Stosur on Stadium Court tomorrow at 4:00 p.m and Lin Zhu will face Shuai Zhang at the same time on Court 1.

On the ATP side, Alex Kuznetsov, James Duckworth, Vincent Millot, Ernesto Escobedo, Jared Donaldson, and Ryan Harrison joined the main draw as qualifiers. Duckworth and Millot were the only players to need a third set, although a poor Alejandro Falla retired against Millot in the third set heat. Donaldson was evenly matched against Marinko Matosevic, who was getting good depth on his shots and hitting the ball hard, but Matosevic hit unforced errors when it mattered, and as a result lost the match in a close pair of sets. In doubles qualifying, Brian Baker and Austin Krajicek defeated Harrison and Dennis Novikov in an All-American clash.

CITI OPEN – WASHINGTON, USA
$1,877,705 (ATP)
$250,000 (WTA)
JULY 18-24 , 2016

RESULTS – JULY 17, 2016

Mens
Qualifying Singles – Second Round

Qualifying – [10] E. Escobedo (USA) d [1] D. Novikov (USA) 76(3) 64

Qualifying – [2] V. Millot (FRA) d [9] A. Falla (COL) 67(3) 75 41 Retired

Qualifying – [3] J. Donaldson (USA) d [11] M. Matosevic (AUS) 76(9) 64

Qualifying – [4] R. Harrison (USA) d [8] A. Weintraub (ISR) 64 63

Qualifying – [12] A. Kuznetsov (USA) d [5] M. Barton (AUS) 64 63

Qualifying – [6] J. Duckworth (AUS) d [7] A. Sarkissian (USA) 46 76(5) 62

Mens
Qualifying Doubles – Second Round

Qualifying – [2] [PR] B. Baker (USA) / A. Krajicek (USA) d R. Harrison (USA) / D. Novikov (USA) 46 64 10-8

Women’s
Qualifying Singles – Second Round

Qualifying – [1] L. Zhu (CHN) d S. Marand (USA) 62 63

Qualifying – [WC] V. Flink (RUS) d [2] H. Kuwata (JPN) 06 62 64

Qualifying – [3] A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) d [6] S. Xu (CHN) 63 64

Qualifying – L. Albanese (USA) d [8] S. Aoyama (JPN) 75 61

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, JULY 18, 2016

CENTER COURT start 1:50 pm

WTA – [1] S. Stosur (AUS) vs [Q] A. Kudryavtseva (RUS)

Not Before 4:00 pm

ATP – D. Evans (GBR) vs B. Becker (GER)

Not Before 5:00 pm

ATP – D. Kudla (USA) vs J. Millman (AUS)

Not Before 7:00 pm

ATP – D. Sela (ISR) vs T. Fritz (USA)

ATP – A. Mannarino (FRA) vs [WC] F. Tiafoe (USA)

GRANDSTAND 1 start 2:00 pm

WTA – [7] Y. Wickmayer (BEL) vs M. Brengle (USA)

Not Before 4:00 pm

ATP – [Q] J. Duckworth (AUS) vs T. Smyczek (USA)

Not Before 5:00 pm

ATP – Y. Sugita (JPN) vs V. Pospisil (CAN)

Not Before 7:00 pm

WTA – [LL] H. Kuwata (JPN) vs C. Wozniacki (DEN)

WTA – [WC] F. Abanda (CAN) vs [WC] U. Arconada (USA)

GRANDSTAND 2 start 4:00 pm

ATP – [Q] A. Kuznetsov (USA) vs B. Fratangelo (USA)

ATP – [Q] V. Millot (FRA) vs [Q] J. Donaldson (USA)

WTA – [6] Y. Putintseva (KAZ) vs [Q] V. Flink (RUS)

WTA – A. Wozniak (CAN) vs [WC] J. Pegula (USA)

COURT 1 start 4:00 pm

WTA – [Q] L. Zhu (CHN) vs S. Zhang (CHN)

WTA – After Suitable Rest – M. Brengle (USA) / S. Crawford (USA) vs I. Falconi (USA) / D. Lao (USA)

ATP – J. Thompson (AUS) vs V. Estrella Burgos (DOM