TENERIFE/STARNBERG, October 18, 2021
Main draw action at the inaugural Tenerife Ladies Open kicked off Monday with an upset, as qualifier Jaqueline Adina Cristian knocked out the tournament’s No. 2 seed Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
The World No. 108 from Romania converted five of her 10 break-point chances to prevail after two hours and nine minutes.
“I am happy to be the winner of this match, it was a big fight. She is a great player. I am coming from qualies and I am enjoying this place. I hope I can go as far as possible,” said Cristian, a winner of 10 titles on the ITF Pro Circuit.
Ending the day with a surprising win by Jaqueline #Cristian over seed No.2 #zidanšek!
👋🏻See you tomorrow for more great tennis!@WTA | #meftennisevents #TenerifeLadiesOpen pic.twitter.com/NBkJhiNW1x
— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) October 18, 2021
Up next for Cristian will be Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Slovakia, who rallied past Slovenian lucky loser Kaja Juvan 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 after two hours and 23 minutes.
Earlier in the day, Irina-Camelia Begu defeated Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-4. The 31-year-old from Romania capitalized on five of her 18 break-point chances to advance after one hour and 58 minutes.
“It is always tough to play against Marta. She is a young and great player. Obviously in a first round it’s never easy. You have to adapt, to feel a bit the court. It was a difficult match but I am happy to be through,” Begu said during her post match on-court interview.
“It is a really nice place and I enjoy playing here. At home we have about 10 degrees and it’s raining. Here is such a great weather. It’s amazing.”
Up next for Begu will be either No. 8 seed Alison Riske from the United States or Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic.
Tenerife Ladies Open – Monday Results
Jaqueline Cristian d. Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova d. Kaja Juvan 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Xinyu Wang d. Shuai Zhang 6-2, 6-1
Ann Li d. Nuria Parrizas Diaz 2-6, 6-4. 6-1
Irina-Camelia Begu d. Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-4
