Julia Riera vs Elina Avanesyan — R32 — SP Open

Elina Avanesyan moved into the round of 16 at the SP Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Julia Riera in a round-of-32 match where holding serve was the exception. Avanesyan, an Armenian ranked WTA No. 159, won six of her nine return games; Riera, at WTA No. 147, won three of eight. Avanesyan broke to open both sets. She led 3-0 and then 4-1 in the first, Riera retrieving one break in game 4. The second followed a similar shape: breaks for Avanesyan in games 1, 3 and 5, with Riera getting back to 1-1 and then to 2-4. Riera saved two match points before Avanesyan closed out the 89-minute match. Riera won 26 percent of her second-serve points and hit all six of her double faults in the second set; Avanesyan double-faulted four times there herself. They had no prior meetings on record. Avanesyan's last recorded outing was a semifinal run at the Hamburg Open in July.