Volynets, 18, beats ailing Bouchard, qualifies for Macon

Katie Volynets will try to avenge a narrow loss
to Caroline Dolehide in Berkeley, Calif., last
year. 2019 photo by Paul Bauman

   Katie Volynets, 18, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area led 6-4, 3-0 when top-seeded Eugenie Bouchard, formerly ranked No. 5, retired with an abdominal strain today in the final round of qualifying for the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga.

   Bouchard, the Wimbledon runner-up to Petra Kvitova in 2014, has improved from No. 224 at the end of 2019 to No. 140. The 26-year-old Canadian reached the final on clay in Istanbul last month as a qualifier and the third round of the French Open, losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.

   Volynets, ranked No. 325, will play powerful Caroline Dolehide, a 22-year-old American ranked No. 148, for the second time at 7 a.m. PDT. Dolehide edged Volynets 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the opening round of last year's $60,000 Berkeley, Calif., Challenger.  

   After the Dolehide-Volynets match, wild card CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old product of Atherton in the Bay Area, will meet Lara Arruabarrena of Spain for the first time. Both contests will be streamed live.

   Twelfth-seeded Gabriela Talaba, a 25-year-old left-hander from Romania, advanced to the main draw by demolishing seventh-seeded Ankita Raina of India 6-0, 6-0. Talaba, who won last year's $25,000 Redding, Calif., Challenger, has not lost a game in her last three sets.  She is scheduled to face seventh-seeded Greet Minnen of Belgium.

   Also Wednesday, fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., will play qualifier Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France for the first time. In Ahn's last two matches, she has lost to Serena Williams in Grand Slam tournaments.

   Andrianjafitrimo, 22, advanced with a 7-5, 6-7 (5) [10-8] victory over third-seeded Clara Tauson, 17, of Denmark. Tauson stunned 21st-seeded Jennifer Brady, a U.S. Open semifinalist last month, to reach the second round of the French Open as a qualifier before losing to eventual quarterfinalist Danielle Collins.