Around the Grounds at the New Haven Open – Sunday August 19, 2012

By Jack Cunniff New Haven Open – Sunday August 19, 2012 Summaries of Sunday’s first round action at the Connecticut Tennis Center in New Haven:   Lucie Safarova First Round: (8) Lucie Safarova def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-3, 4-1 ret.   Lucie Safarova enters New Haven at a career high world ranking of No.19, and a successful run to the semifinals of Montreal two weeks ago.  Her opponent has also found success this year. Varvara Lepchenko, born in Uzbekistan but now an American citizen, reached the fourth round of the French Open by defeating former champion Francesca Schiavone.  This had the makings of a competitive match in the early going, but Safarova’s service returns made the difference.  The Czech was able to break Lepchenko for a 4-2 lead in the first set, and never looked back.  After holding serve to close out the first set, Safarova broke Lepchenko in the opening game of the second set.   Lepchenko was fighting another opponent on court today: her injured left wrist. She later...