Local Tennis Player Varvara Lepchenko Wins First Round at Olympics

The Lehigh Valley's Varvara Lepchenko advanced to the second round of tennis at the London Olympics on Monday, beating Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay.

Lepchenko, formerly of Uzbekistan, has resided in South Whitehall but now lives in Upper Macungie. She beat Cepede Royg in the third set of her first-round match. Lepchenko, who is making her Olympic debut in the 2012 games, beat Cepede Royg 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 in the first round.

NBC 10 reports that Lepchenko and Cepede Royg were unable to complete their match on Sunday due to darkness. Lepchenko quickly beat Cepede Royg Monday in a 29-minute final set, the report said.

Lepchenko next faces Germany’s Julia Goerges.

The women's tennis portion of the Games began Saturday, July 28, and runs through Aug. 5. NBCOlympics.com is live streaming all the singles matches. Also, BRAVO is airing 56 hours of U.S. Olympic tennis from July 28-Aug. 3 from early morning until mid-afternoon on most days.