Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova advanced to the second round after Ons Jabeur retired in the second set due to an elbow injury. Ekaterina started with a stellar 6-1 first set and had a one-nil lead in the second set before the walkover win. Meanwhile, Simona Halep eased past Anastasia Potapova, winning 6-1, 6-4. On the other hand, Andrea Petkovic came on top versus Jelena Ostapenko after the latter conceded a walkover, the game remained close, with a 2-6, 6-2, 2-0 scoreline in favor of Andrea.
Perhaps, the closest battle occurred between Russian compatriots Veronika Kudermetova and Oksana Selekhmeteva. Veronika won 4-6, 7-6(7-3), 6-4 in a grind-out battle. Oksana’s undoing came due to her 11 double-fault despite having a 63-59 service points edge. One other area, where she failed to capitalize turned out to be receiving points, where Veronika had a 48-31 advantage.