American Coco Vandeweghe made a winning return to the WTA tour Monday, beating Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4 in the first round in San Jose. It was her first match in 10 months.
Vandeweghe, once ranked as high as ninth in the world, hadn’t played a WTA singles match since falling in the first round of the China Open last September, having been slowed for much of 2018 by a nagging ankle injury that was followed by a foot injury.
“To think that five months ago I wasn’t even walking, I’m just full of tons of emotions,” the 27-year-old said after wrapping up the victory with an ace on match point in one hour and 23 minutes.
She hadn’t won a singles match since June of 2018, and in her extended absence has dropped to 636th in the world.
“First and foremost, I was thinking of having fun,” she said of her mindset coming into the tournament, for which she received a wild card.
While she missed the first edition of the tournament in San Jose last year, Vandeweghe was a two-time finalist in the event’s previous incarnation in Stanford.
Vandeweghe earned a second-round meeting with second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Results
1st rd
Daria Kasatkina (RUS) bt Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROM) 6-2, 6-2
Mayo Hibi (JPN) bt Timea Babos (HUN) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3)
Maria Sakkari (GRE x7) bt Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 6-1, 6-4
Kristie Ahn (USA) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP x6) bt Magda Linette (POL) 6-3, 6-3
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Marie Bouzkova (CZE) 6-2, 6-4
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!