By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday April 7, 2021
American Lauren Davis toppled second seeded Sofia Kenin to advance to the third round at the Volvo Car Open.
Photo Source: Chris Smith/ Volvo Car Open
Lauren Davis notched her third career Top 5 win and first since Wimbledon 2019 on Wednesday at the Volvo Car Open with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Sofia Kenin.
Davis made some adjustments to her game after dropping the opener and the former World No.26 feels that those tactical maneuvers made all the difference.
"I'm most proud of the fact that I went in with a certain game plan and then found that it wasn't working so much, and I was a bit uncomfortable so I just really dug deep and really started to think about how to beat her and I found that heavy deep balls were not her favorite, being on clay, the ball bounces high, pushing girls back it's very effective,” Davis said.
Davis broke serve eight times on 20 opportunities to finish her victory in two hours and 35 minutes.
The American improved to 5-6 on the season and will next face either Coco Gauff or Liudmila Samsonova in the third round.
"I think this gives me some really good momentum,” Davis said. “I always have that self-belief, but it's just a matter of digging deep and applying that on the court. The fact that I was able to do this today and show myself that I can beat a Grand Slam champion, it's very cool and I'm looking forward to the rest of the tournament."
Kenin was making her fourth main draw appearance at Charleston and has yet to reach the third round
In other early action on Wednesday, Paula Badosa upset fifth-seeded Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-1, while No.12-seeded Ons Jabeur knocked off American Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 6-3. Caty McNally topped Anastasija Sevastova, 7-6(3) 2-6, 6-4 and Danka Kovinic stopped Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.