San Diego, Feb 28 (AP) Croatia's Donna Vekic and Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska were among those moving into the second round of the Cymbiotika San Diego Open.

Vekic, a finalist here in 2022, beat local wildcard Katherine Hui, 7-5 6-2 in her WTA Tour singles debut on Tuesday. A Santa Fe Christian School graduate now playing on the collegiate level at Stanford, Hui is the reigning US Open girls' singles titlist.

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A first-time major semifinalist last month at the Australian Open, Yastremska had to dig deep in outlasting American Caroline Dolehide, 6-4 5-7 6-1. The 23-year-old was up a set and a break only to have her opponent force a decider. Yastremska overcame nine double faults in the two-hour, eight-minute matchup.

German veteran Tatjana Maria, 36, advanced when eighth seed Leylah Fernandez retired with a left shoulder injury trailing 0-4 in the second set. It marks the third consecutive year the 21-year-old Canadian, a US Open finalist in 2021, has failed to reach the second round in San Diego.

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Czech Katerina Siniakova, a doubles titlist here last year with countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova, beat Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama 6-3 6-1, in one hour and 13 minutes. Australian wild card Taylah Preston was a 6-4 4-6 6-1 winner over Poland's Magdalena Frech. AP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)