ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Caroline Garcia had her serve broken seven times but still beat Cagla Buyukakcay to move into the second round of the Istanbul Tennis Championship on Wednesday.
The fourth-seeded Garcia had a disastrous second set before prevailing 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 against a local opponent who won the Istanbul event in 2016 but was only a 186th-ranked wild-card entry this year.
Garcia will play qualifier Tereza Martincova for a place in the quarterfinals. Garcia hasn’t gone further than the quarters at any tournament since she won in Nottingham in June 2019.
Sixth-seeded Alison van Uytvanck picked up her first win since the tour resumed amid the coronavirus pandemic, eliminating Viktoria Kuzmova 6-3, 6-4 in their first-round match.
Australian qualifier Ellen Perez was close to eliminating eighth-seeded Misaki Doi in straight sets before the Japanese player recovered to earn a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-1 win. Doi broke Perez’s serve at 5-5 in the second to start a four-game win streak.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard came through qualifying in Istanbul and kept her run going with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Viktoriya Tomova in the first round. Bouchard next plays top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The Istanbul tournament was rescheduled from April and is warm-up clay event for the French Open, which starts main draw play Sept. 27.
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