LINZ, November 7, 2021
Two seeded players saw first-round action Sunday as the main draw of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz kicked off. Seventh favourite Jasmine Paolini of Italy outlasted Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
The 25-year-old Italian withstood seven aces and broke Yastremska’s serve five times to prevail after two hours and 14 minutes. Paolini, who captured her first two titles on the WTA Tour this year at the Croatia Bol Open as well as at the Slovenia Open in Portoroz, will next take on Zheng Saisai. The 27-year-old from China beat Clara Burel of France 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 26 minutes.
Earlier in the day, No. 8 seed Alison Riske of the United States defeated Mona Barthel, the lone German in the field, 6-3, 6-1. The World No. 52 from Pittsburgh, Pa. capitalized on six of her 12 break-point chances to advance after one hour and 10 minutes. Up next for Riske will be either Frenchwoman Alize Cornet or Austrian wild card entry Julia Grabher.
In other action, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus fought past Fiona Ferro of France 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a second-round clash with two-time Grand Slam champion and No. 2 seed Simona Halep from Romania.
Emma did a lot of press work today! As a welcome gift, she received Mozarttaler with her picture on it from the #wtalinz press team 🍫😋@WTA | @EmmaRaducanu pic.twitter.com/WricKeSoHP
— WTA Linz (@WTALinz) November 7, 2021
Raducanu excited to be in Austria
Meanwhile, top seed Emma Raducanu is preparing for her final tournament of the season. The 18-year-old from Great Britain will play her first match at the TipsArena in Linz on Tuesday against either Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine or Wang Xinyu of China.
“I am really excited to be here in Austria,” Raducanu said on Sunday.
“I have been here once before. I went skiing in Lech when I was like seven but I haven’t skied in a long time, as I would have risked an injury. It was a beautiful place and I loved it. So far, my stay here has been great and I am excited to play the tournament, being here, and hopefully explore it a little bit.”
