Bolkvadze beats Ibragimova 6-4 6-3 in US Open qualifying

Mariam Bolkvadze controlled a straight-sets win over Alevtina Ibragimova, 6-4 6-3, to move through the US Open qualifying semifinals. The serve numbers explained the margin: Bolkvadze landed 75 percent of her first serves and won 64.3 percent of those points, while Ibragimova, despite a higher first-serve rate of 78.3 percent, converted just 51.9 percent behind it. The Russian's second delivery was the decisive weakness, yielding only 33.3 percent of points against 57.1 percent for Bolkvadze, who also kept her errors down with a single double fault to Ibragimova's two. It was a composed performance that carried the Georgian into the final qualifying round.