Jelena Ostapenko started her Luxembourg Open campaign on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-2 win over German qualifier Jule Niemeier. The Latvian finished the match in exactly one hour. Ostapenko lost her serve twice in the match, but interrupted her opponent’s serve a total of six times.
The third seed finished the game with 60 points against Niemeiers 36. In the second round Ostapenko plays against the Dutch qualifier Arianne Hartono. Hartono, number 300 in the world rankings, faced a tough challenge against the German wildcard Anna-Lena Friedsam.
However, the 25-year-old prevailed after two hours and 39 minutes of play with 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (4). Mandy Minella, who is playing at home for the last time in her career, reached the round of 16 for the first time in Luxembourg.
Minella defeated Russian Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 35 minutes. The 35-year-old, who received a wildcard for the 2021 edition of the tournament, is playing it for the twelfth time in her career.
The world number 169 will be retiring this season. Meanwhile, Minella will face eight seeded Alize Cornet in search of her very first quarter-finals.
Luxembourg Open: Marketa Vondrousova starts successfully and aims for titles
Greet Minnen and Nuria Parrizas Dias played an exchange of blows in their meeting in the opening round before the Belgian advanced and battled the Spaniard in three hours and 12 minutes with 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 7-6 ( 2) prevailed.
In the second round, Minnen will either face sixth seeded Shuai Zhang or Marie Bouzkova. Zarina Diyas defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 and reached the second round. It took the Kazakhstan two hours and 10 minutes to claim victory.
She will play against the top seeded Belinda Bencic in the second round. Bencic and runner-up Elise Mertens received a bye in the first round. The latter will face Lesia Tsurenko for a place in the quarter-finals.
The Ukrainian defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round 7: 5, 7: 6 (6). The fifth seed Marketa Vondrousova rounded off the list of winners of the Luxembourg Open on Tuesday. The Czech defeated Alison Van Uytvanck on her debut 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 13 minutes. Vondrousova will face the Czech Jana Fett for a place in the quarter-finals.
