By Erwin Ong

 

CINCINNATI -- Day 1 action of qualifying at the 2013 Western & Southern Open included the upsets of top seeds Ivan Dodig and Urszula Radwanska. Dodig of Croatia retired from his match against Michael Russell because of a shoulder injury, while Radwanska was could not stave off Petra Martic, losing the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

 

American wildcards Robby Ginepri and Steve Johnson are both through to the second round of qualifying. Johnson survived a tough first set against Yen-Hsun Lu before winning 7-6(4), 6-4. Ginepri won his match against Australian Bernard Tomic in straight sets.

 

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard beat Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues in one of the day’s final matches. Bouchard partnered with Taylor Townsend for a run into the doubles final at the Citi Open, held last month in Washington, D.C.

 

Other notable matches include the win of former top 10 player Andrea Petkovic, who served a double bagel to former USC Trojan Maria Sanchez; Kimiko Date-Krumm – at 42-years-old – who beat Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva 6-4, 6-0; and Tim Smyczek, who overcame Spaniard Albert Ramos with a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory.

 

The U.S. women did not fare well, with Sanchez, Nicole Gibbs, Melanie Oudin, and Mallory Burdette – all wildcards -- falling in the opening round. Vania King and Alison Riske are through to the next round. King beat Paula Ormaechea in three sets and Riske took out Ayumi Morita of Japan.

 

Qualifying will resume on Sunday for the second and final day. The players are vying for 19 spots in the main draws: 12 for the women and 7 for the men.