Diana Shnaider falls in Berlin opener

 

Czech qualifier Nikola Bartunkova knocked off No. 9 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in a back-and-forth first-round match at the Berlin Tennis Open on Monday.

Bartunkova ‌fell behind 3-0 in the second set, rallied for a 5-4 lead and served for the match before Shnaider saved double match point, then prevailed in the tiebreaker. Shnaider went up 3-0 again in the third set but Bartunkova ripped ⁠off six straight games to turn the tables.

Only two other main-draw matches were played on Monday. Belgium's Elise Mertens charged back for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova, and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova won her first set 6-1 before Austrian opponent Anastasia Potapova retired.

Lexus Nottingham Open

No. 3 seed Emma Navarro shrugged off a first-set tiebreaker loss and defeated Hungary's Anna Bondar 6-7 (6), 6-3, ‌6-2 ⁠in the first round in Great Britain.

Navarro won an impressive 76.8% of her total service points (63 of 82) to counter Bondar's 9 of 13 break points saved. Her next opponent will be Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva, who ⁠rallied past Australian Maya Joint 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-4.

Czech No. 4 seed Marie Bouzkova defeated her fellow Czech Tereza Valentova in straight sets, but two ⁠seeded players were eliminated. China's Qinwen Zheng caused an upset by beating Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4, and ⁠Germany's Tatjana Maria advanced by defeating No. 9 seed Janice Tjen of Indonesia 6-3, 6-2. Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Australians Talia Gibson and Taylah Preston also moved on.

--Field Level Media