Sevastova, who ranks 47th in the WTA rank, beat Potapova (75th in the WTA) with 6-3, 6-3.
In the third and fifth games of the first set, Potapova did not use the advantages of her service, which allowed Latvia’s first racket to take the lead with 4-1.
In the next game, which turned out to be the longest in the match, Sevastova lost by serving, and then none of the tennis players in the set won, serving 6-3 in favor of Sevastova.
In the second set, the athletes served much better, experiencing the first break ball in the fifth game, but Potapova did not use it.
However, in the eighth game, the server Potapova lost “dry”, and in the next game Sevastova served the match, realizing the second of three consecutive match balls – 6-3.
For entering the second round, the athlete was at 30 world ranking points.
In the second round, Sevastova will meet with Catherine McNallie (WTA 118) from the USA. After losing 4-6 in the first set, her opponent in the tenth number of the tournament Jelena Ribakina from Kazakhstan (WTA 23rd) was unable to continue the game.
Sevastova and Potapova had been in force twice so far, dividing the victories in half in 2019. First, Potapova won the first round of the Prague WTA International tournament, with the then 18-year-old tennis player having the greatest career success. Afterwards, in the semifinals of the Jūrmala WTA “International” tournament, the Liepaja woman revived her and later won her last career title.
Sevastova is making her most successful break of the season, and last week she reached the quarterfinals of the Miami WTA 1000. Potapova also came to Charleston from Miami, where she stopped in the first round.
Sevastova has not been able to demonstrate a stable performance in the WTA tour since the beginning of last year. She has eight wins and seven losses this season, while her opponent’s balance of wins and losses is 7-7.
Potapova achieved the best result of the season in the tournament in Dubai, where she fought to the quarterfinals, as well as the performance of the Australian Open, where the Russian managed to get to the third round. Last year, the Russian athlete did not return to the court after the season resumed because she had ankle surgery.
Sevastova has won four WTA trophies during her career, but Potapova is in her first title hunt. She was close to that in 2018, when she played in the finals of the Moscow and Tashkent tournaments, both of which suffered losses.
The Sevastov tournament in Charleston is playing for the seventh time in his career. The best result of Liepāja is the semi-final achieved in 2018.
Sevastova will not take part in the doubles.
The Charlestown tournament takes place on clay.
Meanwhile, Latvia’s second leading tennis player Alona Ostapenko has returned to her homeland after the tournament in Miami.
Last year, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) changed the names of the categories of its tournaments as the brand was renewed. The changes have been made in cooperation with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) so that the competition structure can be understood by fans at the highest level of the sport.
Starting in 2021, the highest level in WTA tournaments is WTA 1000 (formerly Premier Mandatory and Premier 5), followed by WTA 500 (Premier 700), WTA 250 (International) and WTA 125 ( 125 K) levels. Tournament points and cash bonuses remain the same as before.
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