Egyptian tennis star Mayar Sherif has her first WTA Tour title in close to four years, after Spain’s Paula Badosa was unable to finish their final match at the Iasi Open in Romania on Monday due to injury.
The final had originally been scheduled for Sunday but was pushed back a day because of rain. When play got underway, Sherif built a commanding lead of 6-4, 4-0 before Badosa was forced to withdraw after 70 minutes on the court.
The 30-year-old Sherif took charge of the opening set by breaking Badosa’s serve in the seventh game, then came out even more aggressively in the second set, breaking her opponent twice in quick succession to open a decisive lead.
The win gives Sherif her first WTA-level championship since she captured the Parma Open in Italy — also played on clay — back in October 2022.
Livesport Prague Open
At the Prague Open in the Czech Republic, sixth-seeded Croatian Antonia Ruzic was knocked out in the first round, falling 7-6 (2), 6-4 to local favorite Dominika Salkova, who fed off the energy of a home crowd. Salkova won 52.2 percent of her return points and held a narrow 5-4 advantage in breaks. Her path wasn’t smooth — she won the first four games before dropping five straight — but she held on to advance.
Top seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and eighth-seeded Ukrainian Daria Snigur had far easier rides in their opening matches. Bouzkova dispatched Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 7-5, while Snigur battled through a three-set contest against Germany’s Ella Seidel, winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Among unseeded players, Turkey’s Ayla Aksu defeated Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Czech player Lucie Havlickova beat Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-4; Carol Young Suh Lee got past Ukraine’s Veronika Podrez 6-1, 5-7, 6-2; and France’s Oceane Dodin rolled past Czech player Alisa Oktiabreva 6-3, 6-3.
MSC Hamburg Ladies Open
In Germany, second-seeded Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina opened the Hamburg tournament with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo. The match featured a striking 14-to-8 split in games won by the returning player versus the serving player. Despite going the entire match without an ace and committing nine double faults, Kalinina converted 8 of 17 break-point chances to secure the win.
Also on opening day, Hungary’s Anna Bondar beat Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 7-5, 6-4, winning 48.4 percent of her return points. German wild card Julia Stusek delivered the day’s most competitive result, outlasting Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
