Top-seeded Simona Halep defeated Sloane Stephens 7-6 (3), 6-0 in her opening match at the Citi Open on Tuesday.
After beating Stephens, the 2015 Citi Open champion, Halep will face Mariana Duque-Marino in the second round. Stephens played her second match of the season after missing nearly a year with a stress fracture in her foot.
Halep, who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, is ranked No. 2 behind Karolina Pliskova.
Ekaterina Makarova stopped Jamie Loeb 7-6 (4), 6-3, and Monica Puig beat Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-4. A rain delay forced the women’s night matches to be postponed to Wednesday.
On the men’s side, eighth-seeded Jack Sock beat Marius Copil 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) in a match that was delayed more than 3 hours by rain.
In later men’s action, top-seeded Dominic Thiem faced Henri Laaksonen and second-seeded Kei Nishikori faced Donald Young, who faced another late night after winning his first-round match just before 2 a.m. Tuesday.
The Citi Open is a hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 28.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.