Upsets galore as Azarenka and Andreescu dumped out, Sakkari and Kudermetova through at Bett1 Open Berlin
WTA
The rain delays meant that most of the first round action didn't take place till Wednesday but for most matches, there was a mix of upsets and big names moving through at the Bett1 Open Berlin.
Maria Sakkari was one of those to move through as she aims to put her poor display in Nottingham last week behind her. She will now face Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Sakkari defeated Alizé Cornet who defeated her in the UK in again another good chance for the Greek to finally add to her title haul. It became a British based tournament with Katie Boulter winning with Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Katie Swan all making it to the latter stages.
But the No.6 seed will aim to produce in a better field which has now lost Victoria Azarenka who was defeated by Sasnovich. The poor form of the Belarusian continues as she lost to her compatriot 6-4, 6-4.
The match was suspended last night at 1-1 in the second set but was finished off less than 24 hours later with no change to a comprehensive result.
Azarenka is slated to play Bad Homburg next week but is going through her worst form slump since her surprise return to prominence in 2021.
Veronika Kudermetova and Marketa Vondrousova were the other two players to make good on the rain delays. The latter saw off Bianca Andreescu 7-6, 7-5. Neither player faced a break point in the opening 12 games before the Czech eased through the tie break.
She came from 4-1 down to see off the former US Open champion in the second set before needing four match points to win. Jule Niemeier is next after victory over Ons Jabeur. Kudermetova will now face Aryna Sabalenka on the other hand after the Russian eased past Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 6-2.
Elena Rybakina is in second round action also this afternoon as they will aim to speed through the matches to finish this week on time.
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