Spanish tennis star Paula Badosa made a strong statement at the UniCredit Iasi Open in Romania on Tuesday, knocking out fourth-seeded Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory to advance to the second round.
Kalinina had a difficult outing, racking up eight double faults and managing to hold her serve on just two occasions throughout the entire match. Romanian hometown hope Elena-Gabriela Ruse also fell short, as Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo eliminated the sixth seed by the same 6-3, 6-1 scoreline. Quevedo was particularly strong under pressure, saving 12 of the 14 break points she faced while breaking Ruse’s serve six times.
Ukraine’s third-seeded Oleksandra Oliynykova had to work harder for her win, needing two tiebreakers to get past Turkish lucky loser Ipek Oz 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5). Hungary’s fifth seed Panna Udvardy also advanced, outlasting Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. France’s eighth-seeded Elsa Jacquemot and ninth-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan both moved through in straight sets as well.
Additional first-round winners included Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek, Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan, Egypt’s Mayar Sherif, Russia’s Alevtina Ibragimova and Elena Pridankina, and Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa.
At the Athens Open in Greece, top-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark overcame an early deficit to defeat Japanese qualifier Nao Hibino 7-5, 6-4. Tauson dropped a break early in the first set but fought back, ultimately converting four break points in the match while holding Hibino to just two.
Second-seeded Ann Li had a much smoother day, rolling past Maria Timofeeva of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-1 in just 79 minutes. Third-seeded Czech player Barbora Krejcikova also wrapped up her match in 79 minutes, defeating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-3. Seventh-seeded Czech Tereza Valentova cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas.
Italian lucky loser Miriana Tona celebrated her first-ever WTA main-draw victory after a marathon three-hour, eight-minute battle against Greek wild card Sapfo Sakellaridi, winning 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2. France’s Carole Monnet, Russia’s Alina Korneeva, and Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich also claimed victories in Athens.
