Above: Victoria Duval
By Alexander Britell
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Haitian-American tennis star Victoria Duval lost her first-round match at the Sony Open on Wednesday in straight sets.
Duval fell 7-6, 6-1 to 22-year-old Netherlands native Kiki Bertens, who is currently ranked 33rd in the world.
It wasn’t the cleanest game for Duval, who had nine double faults to Bertens’ two. After a hard-fought first set, Bertens cruised to victory in the second.
Duval, who helped announce the women’s draw earlier in the week, was playing in front of a favourable crowd on Key Biscayne, just a few miles from her home town of Miami.
Duval, just 18 years of age, spent much of her childhood in Haiti, eventually moving back to South Florida to improve her tennis skills.
Her father, who had stayed behind in Port-au-Prince, survived the 2010 earthquake in the country despite serious injuries.
Duval is currently ranked 139th in the world.
Her best Grand Slam finish was a second-round loss at the US Open last year.