CHARLESTON, S.C.—Caroline Garcia, the top seed at the Volvo Car Open, kicked off her clay-court season in dominating fashion, beating Varvara Lepchenko, 6-2, 6-3.
Coming off a surprising second-round loss at the Miami Open, Garcia showed no signs of difficulty in making the transition from hard courts to clay. The Frenchwoman was sharp right from the start, storming to a 3-0 lead. Garcia soon took a 5-1 lead and was two points away from the set at 30-all. However, Lepchenko rallied to win the next four points to break serve.
Serving at 2-5, Lepchenko got to 40-30 before Garcia took it to deuce. Lepchenko earned the advantage, but Garcia came back again, reaching set point. In total, there were five deuces in the game before Garcia managed to break and clinch the opener, 6-2.
Match point from Garcia's win over Lepchenko in Charleston: