11 September – Top seed Elise Mertens won in the first round of the Tunisia Jasmine Open in Monastir, Tunisia on Tuesday, but fourth seed Nadia Podoroska and fifth seed Jaqueline Christian were not so fortunate.
Belgian Mertens, ranked 32nd in the world, defeated Russian Anastasia Zakharova 6-2, 6-0. Mertens converted 7 of 10 break-serve opportunities, won 69.2% (9 of 13) of her first-serve points and 65.4% (17 of 26) of her second-serve points.
Antonia Ruzic of Croatia defeated Podoroska of Argentina 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. British qualifier Sona Kartel, ranked 151 in the world, won her third title of 2024 by defeating Christian of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours 43 minutes to become a Top 100 champion. Karter converted eight of 13 break point opportunities (61.5%), while Christian converted seven of 14 break point opportunities.
Other first-round winners include seventh seed Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, Jana Feit of Croatia, Rebecca Slamkova of Slovakia, Ann Li of the United States, Zeynep Sonmes of Turkey and Yulia Starodubtseva of Ukraine.
Guadalajara Akron Open
Ashlyn Krueger overcame a tough first set to beat Germany’s Tatiana Maria 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament in Mexico.
Kruger finished the match with four aces, dealt with nine double faults and saved six of eight break points. Maria committed seven double faults and saved five of 10 break points.
Japan’s Anna Shibahara converted all five break points she had to beat Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 7-6(4).
In night matches, fifth seed Magdalena Frech of Poland will face Hermina Bektas, and sixth seed Czech Marie Bouzkova will take on Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
——Visual-level media
