Stearns beats Dart 6-1 7-6 in Cincinnati first round

Peyton Stearns opened her Cincinnati campaign with a 6-1 7-6 win over Harriet Dart, running away with the first set before surviving a far tighter second that went to a tiebreak. The American's serve carried her: nine aces against three, 59.4% of first serves landed and 76.3% of those points won, comfortably clear of Dart's 69.0%. The Briton's delivery let her down, with just 46.8% of first serves in, six double faults and only 33.3% of second-serve points won. For Stearns, it was a straight-sets start on home soil at a WTA 1000.