Local competitor Nikola Bartunkova delivered a pleasant surprise to the fans in attendance when she knocked off No. 3 seed Anna Blinkova from Russia 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the Ostrava Open in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Monday.
In a closely contested match, Bartunkova broke serve up 5-4 in each set to come away with the upset. Linda Fruhvirtova also won in her home country on Monday, defeating Germany’s Mona Barthel 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Her older sister, Brenda Fruhvirtova, was not so lucky, as she fell 6-1, 6-1 to French qualifier Fiona Ferro. Another Czech competitor, Anna Siskova, also lost her opening-round match, 6-4, 6-4, to Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.
American Alycia Parks defeated Austria’s Julia Grabher 7-6 (3), 6-2. The Transylvania Open kicked off with Emma Raducanu starting her tournament in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where she secured a straightforward victory over Belgium’s Greet Minnen with a 6-0, 6-4 win on the indoor hard courts.
Raducanu needed only 70 minutes to advance, facing no break points while converting four of the seven break opportunities. No. 3 seed Solana Cirstea also began her run in the home-country tournament with an equally straightforward victory over Kamilla Rakhimova from Uzbekistan, winning 6-4, 6-4.
In the only three-set match of the day, Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova came back to beat wild-card competitor Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Another Romanian, Ana Bogdan, was defeated in straight sets by Poland’s Maja Chwalinska, 6-3, 6-2.
In a match with plenty of drama, Belarusian lucky-loser Aliaksandra Sasnovich upset eighth-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 on the outdoor hard courts in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. That was hardly the only dramatic action of the day.
No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia saved a pair of match points and survived being broken six times to win her opening-round match against Oksana Selekhmeteva from Russia with a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2 result in one of four three-set matches.
Indonesia’s Janice Tjen defeated Australia’s Maya Joint 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3, and Simona Waltert of Switzerland outlasted Daria Kasatkina from Australia with a score of 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4.