Wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands overcame the heat, humidity and Donna Vekic to reach the second round in Kuala Lumpur.
After lifting the doubles title in Dubai in less than 72 hours, Bethanie Mattek-Sands took the first steps towards revitalizing her singles career with a first round win over No.6 seed Donna Vekic at the BMW Malaysian Open.
This is a player who was sitting for 18 months ago at a career high of No.30 in the rankings, this was Mattek-Sands’ first main draw victory of the season. And, with mid-afternoon temperatures scaling 90°F in the Malaysian capital, she was made to work for it.
Eager to negate the effects of these energy-sapping conditions, Mattek-Sands was even more aggressive than usual and was rewarded for her positive approach when she broke the Vekic serve in a marathon opening game of the third set.
In a match dominated by serve, this slip proved terminal, as Mattek-Sands held her nerve to close out the match, 63 46 62.
“It was a good match. She came out playing very well,” Mattek-Sands said. “I haven’t seen much of her before – I know she’s very young but she has a lot of talent and a lot of potential – and I had to step up in the third and play aggressive.”
Despite making her tournament debut this week, Mattek-Sands, now ranked down at No.197, arrived well briefed on what to expect from the city’s notoriously harsh conditions.
Even more influential than the heat over the first few days, though, has been the rain. And after Monday’s near washout, another thunderstorm put paid to the majority of Tuesday’s action too.
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