Daria Gavrilova has started her US summer in fine form with a 7-5 6-3 win over Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Gavrilova dominated on serve throughout the match and didn’t face a single break point in the 83 minute encounter.
Conversely Garcia had problems with her serve, coughing up a surprising seven double faults on her own throughout the match.
Gavrilova, who has slipped to world No.47 after reaching a career high of No.32 earlier this year was forced to qualify for the tournament.
She is yet to drop a set this week, winning both her qualifying matches in straight sets, defeating Germany’s Mona Barthel and Japan’s Naomi Osaka along the way.
The 22-year-old Aussie will face 17th seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the second round, who she has a 1-1 record against, their last encounter was a 6-2 7-6 (7-4) win for Gavrilova in Madrid this year.
Sam Stosur is the only other Australian in the draw and had a bye through the first round.