Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova outlasted Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the AGEL Open in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Azarenka, who reached the finals in Ostrava in 2020, is still in search of her first WTA title in more than two years. Alexandrova smashed 12 aces while the former world No. 1 had none.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan came from behind to beat American Madison Keys 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Rybakina had seven aces and won 40 of her 51 first-service points (78.4 percent).
Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic rallied from down 4-0 in the first set to defeat Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5). Petra Kvitova also won on home soil, beating Bernarda Pera of the U.S. 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic beat Shuai Zhang of China 6-3, 6-3.
Jasmin Open Monastir
Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy rallied from a set down to eliminate Polish No. 8 seed Magda Linette 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round in Tunisia.
The other three seeded players in action Monday advanced. French No. 3 seed Alize Cornet beat Brazil’s Laura Pigossi 7-6 (3), 6-0. No. 5 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium breezed past Jaquline Cristian of Romania 6-1, 6-1 in 56 minutes. Seventh seed Katerina Siniakova was ahead 6-4, 4-0 when French opponent Chloe Paquet retired.
Claire Liu of the U.S. and Despina Papamichail of Greece also won their respective matches.
–Field Level Media