Elise Mertens dominates but upsets rock Jasmin Open

Monastir: Top seed Elise Mertens cruised to victory, but fourth-seeded Nadia Podoroska and fifth-seeded Jacqueline Cristian were not as fortunate in the first round of the Jasmin Open Tunisia on Tuesday in Monastir, Tunisia.

Belgium's Mertens, ranked No. 32 in the world, posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Anastasia Zakharova of Russia. Mertens converted 7 of 10 break-point chances and won 69.2 percent (9 of 13) of her first-serve points and 65.4 percent (17 of 26) on her second serves.

Antonia Ruzic of Croatia rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Argentina's Podoroska. British qualifier Sonay Kartal, ranked No. 151 in the world, ousted Romania's Cristian, ranked No. 74, in a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 battle in two hours and 43 minutes for her third Top 100 win of 2024. Kartal converted 8 of 13 break-point opportunities (61.5 percent) to 7 of 14 for Cristian.

Other first-round winners were seventh-seeded Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, Jana Fett of Croatia, Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, Ann Li of the United States, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine.

Guadalajara Open :

Italy's Martina Trevisan powered to a 6-3, 6-2 win over eighth-seeded Caroline Dolehide of the United States in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Trevisan converted six of her 13 break-point opportunities while saving two of the four break points on her own serve.

Krueger collected four aces to counter nine double faults and saved 6 of 8 break points. Maria tallied seven double faults and saved 5 of 10 break points.

Fifth-seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland and sixth-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic cruised to straight-set wins. Frech topped the United States' Emina Bektas 6-4, 6-4, and Bouzkova downed Philippine qualifier Alexandra Eala 6-2, 6-2.

Ashlyn Krueger of the United States won a tough opening set before eliminating Tatjana Maria of Germany 7-5, 6-2.

Japan's Ena Shibahara, Canada's Marina Stakusic and Italy's Lucrezia Stefanini also advanced. Agencies

Also Read: Australian Open: Hsieh Su-Wei, Elise Mertens win women’s doubles title

Also Watch: