Jovic, one of three seeded players in action on the day, cruised through the first set by winning the opening five games. However, she faltered in the second set, losing all three of her service games in a dramatic shift in momentum, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The American regrouped in the decider, winning the final five games of the third set while facing and saving just one break point. Despite landing 61% of her first serves, she capitalized on Rakhimova’s struggles, including a 56% first-serve rate and eight double faults.
In another seeded matchup, No. 12 Clara Tauson of Denmark defeated Sofia Kenin 7-6 (4), 6-2. After both players held serve through the first 10 games, Tauson was broken to trail 6-5 in the opening set but responded immediately with a break of her own. She then rallied from 2-0 down in the tiebreak to claim the set. The second set proved more straightforward as Tauson established a 2-0 lead and closed out the match by winning the final three games.
Tauson dominated on serve, striking 20 aces against five double faults, winning 90% of her first-serve points and converting three of four break-point opportunities.
Emma Navarro, the other American seed in action, secured a 6-4, 7-5 win over Romania’s Elena Gabriela Ruse. The No. 14 seed sealed both sets with crucial breaks despite hitting just one ace and committing six double faults.
The tournament has also seen a wave of withdrawals, bringing the total to eight by the end of Monday’s play. Among the latest to withdraw were Canada’s Mackenzie Mboko, who entered the WTA top 10 for the first time Monday but cited a right elbow issue, and Czechia’s Barbora Krejcikova, who pulled out with a left thigh injury after winning her opener.
Krejcikova’s withdrawal handed No. 2 seed Amanda Anisimova a walkover into the third round, where she will face Indonesia’s Janice Tjen. Tjen advanced with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.
Third seed Coco Gauff will begin her campaign in the second round against Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, who rallied past Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Fourth seed Jessica Pegula is set to open against France’s Varvara Gracheva, who defeated Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.
Other players advancing to the second round on Monday included Romania’s Sorana Cirstea and Jaqueline Cristian, Australia’s Daria Kasatkina, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova, Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic and Spain’s Paula Badosa.
