Cleveland Classic: Triple Canadian delight in first round

Hollie Naughton, Samantha Cornett and Danielle Letourneau all won their first round matches, meaning there are three Canadians in to the last 16 in Cleveland.

Letourneau came through the longest match in the first round, as she had to go to five to beat Haley Mendez in 51 minutes.

Hollie Naughton took 36 minutes to win her first round match, beating Latvia’s World No.64 Ineta Mackevica in four games.

Samantha Cornett, the highest ranked Canadian in the tournament, overcome Tinne Gilis in just 22 minutes, winning in straight games, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.

There was some success for the Gilis family, as older sister Nele got the better of World No.134 Marina De Juan Gallach inside half an hour.

There were two surprises in the first round in Cleveland, with good wins for Lisa Aitken and Rachel Arnold.

Aitken continued her great run of form, which has seen the Scot win three of her last four tournaments, by beating Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby.

Milou van Der Heijden, who appeared on the glass court at last month’s Tournament of Champions, was knocked out by Arnold. The World No.51 from Malaysia has reached the last 16 of a PSA Bronze event for the first time.

Elsewhere, Amanda Landers-Murphy and Coline Aumard made it through to the second round, both winning in straight games.

The second round will see several of the World’s top 20 being their campaigns, including Nour El Tayeb, Tesni Evans and Alison Waters.

Results: Round One
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Milou van der Heijden (NED) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3 (36m)
Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Marina De Juan Gallach (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (27m)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-1: 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 (36m)
Samantha Cornett (CAN) v Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (22m)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) bt Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 11-6, 2-11, 11-4 (30m)
Coline Aumard (FRA) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 (27m)
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) bt Haley Mendez (USA) 3-2: 8-11, 14-12, 11-0, 7-11, 11-9 (51m)

Draw: Round Two
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) vs Rachel Arnold (MAS)
Samantha Cornett (CAN) vs [3] Alison Waters (ENG)
[4] Victoria Lust (ENG) vs Lisa Aitken (SCO)
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) vs [2] Tesni Evans (WAL)
Nele Gilis (BEL) vs [5] Emily Whitlock (ENG)
[8] Nadine Shahin (EGY) vs Hollie Naughton
Coline Aumard (FRA) vs [6] Mariam Metwally (EGY)
[7] Mayar Hany (EGY) vs Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)