WASHINGTON, August 1, 2018 (by Michael Dickens)

After a tentative opening set in which she rallied from 2-5 down and fought off four set points, No. 2 seed Sloane Stephens gained momentum during a seven-game run in her first-round match against resilient wild card Bethanie Matek-Sands, her U.S. Fed Cup teammate, in the Citi Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday afternoon.

As it happened, Stephens won going away, 7-5, 6-4, in one hour and 53 minutes on the Stadium court despite a brief rain delay. It didn’t dampen Stephens’ enthusiasm at all even if it might have seemed awkward playing against her compatriot.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands against Sloane Stephens – photo: Michael Dickens

“We’ve played on a lot of Fed Cup teams together,” Stephens told Tennis Channel after her win over Mattek-Sands. “I was excited to see her and play against her. I knew not to get frustrated. I had to stay patient and wait for my opportunities. I felt super comfortable. I was ready.”

After yielding consecutive service aces to the always colorfully attired Mattek-Sands at the start of the match, Stephens found her groove and rhythm later on. Although the reigning U.S. Open champion and French Open finalist won just 63 percent (37 of 59) of her first-serve points, Stephens saved seven of the nine break points she faced and broke Mattek-Sands four times in four tries.

Later, during a post-match press conference, Stephens was asked what it’s like to be on the other side of the net facing a Fed Cup teammate in a competitive match. She responded: “When you’re competing on the court, whatever happens happens. After the match you’re still friends. Win or lose, it won’t make or break a friendship.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Stephens faces Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in a second-round match on the Stadium court.

Wozniacki withdraws with leg injury

Meanwhile, women’s top seed and World No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki withdrew from the Citi Open just hours before her opening round match with a right-leg injury. She was scheduled to play qualifier Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine Tuesday night. Wozniacki was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium, who lost in last weekend’s qualifying draw after being seeded first.

After practicing Monday, Wozniacki told tennis.com that her leg “is just something that has been nagging a little bit, but hopefully it’ll be fine.”

Wozniacki’s last competitive match was July 4 at Wimbledon, in which she lost in the second round to Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, who won last year’s Citi Open women’s title. (Makarova was upset in Tuesday’s first round by Ana Bogdan of Romania.) The reigning Australian Open champion has not played a hard court match the Miami Open in March. She has less than a month to recover for the U.S. Open, which starts on August 27.

Other women’s results

No. 7 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over American Caroline Dolehide in a match originally scheduled for Monday night but postponed to Tuesday because of rain. It was played on intimate Match Court 3, which has no permanent seats. Thus, fans were lined two and three deep standing along the fence on one side of the court to catch an up close view. Elsewhere, No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan defeated Bernarda Pera of the U.S., 6-2, 7-6 (4), while No. 4 seed Makarova lost to Bogdan, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Also, No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland defeated qualifier Harriet Dart of Great Britain, 7-5, 6-2, No. 8 seed Yulia Putintseva of Russia advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Tatiana Maria of Germany, and unseeded Nao Hibino of Japan defeated qualifier Sofya Zhuk of Russia, 7-5, 6-4.

Riding out a rain delay

On Monday, Malek Jaziri of Tunisia rode out a five-hour, 48-minute ran delay en route to winning his first-round match over Evgeny Donskoy of Russia, 6-4, 6-1, on Match Court 1, which sits in the shadows of the Stadium. The unseeded and 64th-ranked Jaziri’s match lasted just 89 minutes. He endured a marathon 24-point game to hold his serve for an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the second set. It lifted his spirits and gave him the momentum needed to patiently close out the victory on his fourth match-point try over the 76th-ranked Donskoy. What began at 3:53 p.m. Monday afternoon under threatening skies ended at 11:08 p.m. with just a handful of fans remaining to see the finish.

The win earned the 34-year-old Arab. No. 1, who was a semifinalist earlier this year in Dubai and a finalist in Istanbul, a prized Stadium berth on Tuesday night against World No. 3 and top-seeded Alexander Zverev – less than 24 hours after beating Donskoy. Jaziri’s coach, Christophe Freyss, didn’t seem concerned by the quick turn around. “Sometimes, its better,” he said Monday night while walking from the court to the nearby racket stringer’s office following Jaziri’s win. “Malek is starting to play the way he’s capable, the way he should. OK, lets play.”

Rain delay mood ☔︎😊#CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/5Oc0Ey0iYX

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 1. August 2018

Following a one-hour rain delay and with just a few hundred fans remaining in the Stadium, Jaziri and Zverev finally began their second-round match at 11 p.m. local time. They played for just 18 minutes before the rain returned. Both players stayed out on court seated under umbrellas and play resumed 11 minutes later. However, it lasted for just six minutes before the match was suspended and the players exited the court to wait the tournament’s next decision.