Tennis

Konta beats Mertens at Kremlin Cup

Published Oct. 16, 2018 5:25 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

MOSCOW (AP) — Johanna Konta of Britain upset seventh-seeded Belgian Elise Mertens in the first round of the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday.

Making up a 30-place rankings gap to the 14th-ranked Mertens, Konta took full advantage of Mertens' wayward serving to win 6-3, 7-5.

Konta next plays Australia's Daria Gavrilova.

French players Kristina Mladenovic and Alize Cornet and Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva all won their first-round matches.

In the first round of the men's draw, fifth-seeded Nick Kyrgios beat Russian Andrei Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov ousted sixth-seeded Damir Dzumhur — last year's champion in Moscow — 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2. Another former champion, Andreas Seppi, beat eighth-seeded Martin Klizan 6-1, 7-6 (6).

share