Top seed Ons Jabeur reached the second round of the Bett1 Open in Berlin on Tuesday. The Tunisian claimed a 6-3, 6-3 win over Karolina Muchova in 73 minutes.
Jabeur won 77% of her first-serve points and 60% of her second-serve points. The Czech won 67% of her first-serve points and 41% of her second-serve points. In terms of break points, while Jabeur saved all four break points she faced, she also converted three of the five break points she had on Muchova’s serve.
After her win, Jabeur shared, “A great start, especially playing a tricky player. I’m pretty good with my game, but there’s a few things that I need to improve more and get used to grass. But yeah, overall, I’m enjoying playing here and hopefully, I can continue to play better.”
Looking to reach the quarter-finals, Jabeur will next play American qualifier, Alycia Parks. Parks ousted Qinwen Zheng, 7-3, 7-6(4) in their first-round clash.
Maria Sakkari, the second-seeded player this week, also moved into the second round. The Greek beat France’s Leolia Jeanjean, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 23 minutes. Sakkari won 92% of her first-serve points to Jeanjean’s 62% and 58% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 31%. The world no. 6 didn’t face any break points and converted four break points off 13 opportunities on her opponent’s serve.
Next up for Sakkari will be Daria Saville.
Bett1 Open: Upsetting starts
There were also a couple of huge exits in the first-round matches. Third seed Aryna Sabalenka, a finalist in S’Hertogenbosch last week, lost her round-of-32 match as did fifth seed Garbine Muguruza.
Veronika Kudermetova, who’d reached the semi-finals in S’Hertogenbosch ousted Sabalenka, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes. Kudermetova trailed the world no. 5 in the first two sets and was a game removed from exiting the event but came back to clinch the win for herself. She will play Liudmila Samsonova. Samsonova defeated Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 6-1 in their first-round meeting.
Local favourite Andrea Petkovic beat Muguruza, 7-6(8), 6-4 in two hours and six minutes. Petkovic will play Aliaksandra Sasnovich next.
Meanwhile, S’Hertogenbosch champion, Ekaterina Alexandrova also reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Maryna Zanevska, and will play sixth seed Daria Kasatkina. Likewise, Anna Kalinskaya also reached the second round of the Bett1 Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alize Cornet. Kalinskaya will take on eighth seed Belinda Bencic for a chance to reach the quarters. The Swiss got past German wildcard, Jule Niemeier, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.