Witthoeft surprises two-time tournament winner Vandeweghe

The Ricoh Open will have a different champion than it had in 2016 and 2014, because CoCo Vandeweghe did not succeed to beat Carina Witthoeft (WTA-66) in the first round. The German player won with 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5.

The 22-year-old Witthoeft just had two points more in this match than her American opponent, who reached the semifinal at the Australian Open this season and who is ranked 25th in the world ranking. In the second round Witthoeft will meet another former tournament winner, the champion of 2015, Camila Giorgi (WTA-105).

In addition to the elimination of fourth seed Vandeweghe, eighth seeded Kristyna Pliskova (WTA-45) was defeated too. The Czech twin sister of the world number three, Karolina Pliskova, lost her match with 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 against Anett Kontaveit (WTA-49). Kirsten Flipkens (WTA-75) is the next opponent for the player from Estonia.