French players Clara Burel and Diane Parry were the latest high seeds to be knocked out of the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia, on Wednesday. Burel, the second seed, and Parry, the third seed, both suffered surprising losses in the second round of the WTA 250 event.
Following the first-round exits of fourth seed Nadia Podoroska and fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian a day earlier, Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova took down Burel in a tightly contested match, winning 7-6 (4), 7-5. Meanwhile, Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva secured a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Parry. Starodubtseva showed resilience by saving six break points, and she clinched her victory on her fourth match point in a nail-biting ninth game of the second set.
Throughout the match, Starodubtseva managed to save 12 out of 13 break points, while Parry saved 3 out of 6 and served six aces. This victory marked Starodubtseva’s first WTA 60-level win.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo rallied to defeat Croatia’s Jana Fett 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, advancing to her second quarterfinal of 2024. British qualifier Sonay Kartal, ranked No. 151 in the world, built on her upset of Cristian by defeating Japan’s Mai Hontama in a dominant 6-2, 6-2 performance, wrapping up the match in just 78 minutes.
Guadalajara Akron Open
At the WTA 500 event in Guadalajara, Mexico, third seed Victoria Azarenka was forced to retire during her second-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova. Azarenka, ranked No. 19 in the world, retired while trailing 6-2, 3-0. The Belarusian struggled with five double faults and failed to convert five break points, while Rakhimova seized four break opportunities and played a clean match without any double faults.
Sixth seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic sailed through her opening match, defeating Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. However, the seventh seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia couldn’t avoid an upset, falling to Colombia’s Camila Osorio in a three-set battle, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 7-5.
Other first-round winners included Canada’s Marina Stakusic and Poland’s Magdalena Frech. Later on Wednesday, second seed Danielle Collins was set to face Australia’s Olivia Gadecki, while Italy’s Martina Trevisan took on Mexico’s Renata Zarazua.
