Tennis News

NÜRNBERG, Germany – No.3 seed Annika Beck made a confident start to her NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP challenge, defeating Teliana Pereira in their rain-affected first-round encounter on Monday.

It has been a difficult clay court season for Beck, who arrived in southern Germany on the back of first-round exits in Rabat, Madrid and Rome. However, spurred on by a partisan crowd, she came raring out of the traps before withstanding a late fightback to triumph, 6-0, 6-4.

“I think overall it was a very tough match,” Beck said. “I felt good because it’s kind of my home tournament and I used the atmosphere to help me and at the end I needed this because it was hard and a lot of fighting.”

Having breezed through the opening set, Beck’s progress was halted temporarily by an hour-long rain delay. “It’s never easy to have a rain delay in between as you have to be ready all the time. You change, you cool down a bit and just try and stay focused for when you go back on court.”

Also clearing the opening hurdle was Beck’s fellow German and No.7 seed Anna-Lena Friedsam. Constant drizzle ensured conditions were far from ideal throughout the match, but Friedsam maintained her focus to run out a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Johanna Larsson.

“I played really well today. It was not easy conditions with the rain and the cold but I managed it really well,” Friedsam said. “I tried to focus on my strengths and put her under pressure.

“It’s not nice to play in this rain and cold, but I tried not to think about it, focus on my plan and this worked really well today.”

Dampening the home crowd’s spirits somewhat were defeats for Katharina Hobgarski and Tatjana Maria.

Playing her first WTA main draw match, wildcard Hobgarski received a baptism of fire, losing 6-0, 6-3  to Varvara Lepchenko, while Maria lost to fellow qualifier Kiki Bertens 6-1, 7-6(0).

BOL, Croatia – Ana Konjuh, the Croatian No.5 seed at the inaugural Bol Open 125K, continues to cruise in her home country. She booked her spot into the quarterfinals with a commanding win over Turkish trailblazer Ipek Soylu, 6-2, 6-1.

Watch free live streaming from Bol, Croatia all week right here on wtatennis.com!

Awaiting Konjuh in the quarterfinals is fellow Croat Tereza Mrdeza. A wildcard entry, Mrdeza beat Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure, 6-3, 6-3.

Mandy Minella had to pull double duty on her way to the Bol Open 125K quarterfinals. When yesterday’s rain delay interrupted play, Minella’s first round match against Evgeniya Rodina left her down a set but rallying back at 3-6, 4-1. She stormed all the way back to complete the comeback, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, but her day was not over yet.

Awaiting her in the Round of 16 was the well-rested No.2 seeded American Varvara Lepchenko. She didn’t face a single break point in the first set and quickly grabbed a 6-1 lead, but Lepchenko won the second in a tiebreak to ensure the match went the distance. Despite narrowing Minella’s 4-2 lead to 5-4, the No.2 seed was no match for the on-form Luxembourger, who stormed into the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4 after two hours and twenty-three minutes.

Lepchenko wasn’t the only American who faltered today in Bol; despite a strong Day 1 showing, all of the Americans in the draw were defeated today, with Sachia Vickery, Jennifer Brady and Anna Tatishvili all bowing out. Marina Erakovic defeated Vickery 6-4, 6-4; Stefanie Voegele edged Brady 6-4, 4-6, 7-5; and Kristina Kucova downed Tatishvili 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-4.

The two other remaining seeds in the draw, No.7 Polona Hercog and No.4 Nao Hibino, both advanced in straight sets to reach the quarterfinalist. Hercog needed just over an hour to down Bulgarian qualifier Elitsa Kostova 6-1, 6-0, while Hibino overcame a late resistance from Ivana Jorovic on her way to a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory.