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Beatriz Haddad Maia broke into the top-10 of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career on 12th June. On Tuesday, 13th June, the Brazilian lost in the first round of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham. Ukrainian lucky loser Diana Snigur upset the world no.
10 in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in just 78 minutes. Haddad Maia who reached the French Open semi-finals just last week had taken a wildcard to play the year’s first tournaments on grass. The transition from one surface to the other, however, seemed to have been too quick for her to cope up with.
Incidentally, the left-hander was the defending champion in the British tournament. Meanwhile, Snigur will play another wildcard in Briton Katie Boulter. Boulter won a British derby against qualifier Emily Appleton 6-1, 6-3 in 71 minutes.
Rothesay Open: Maria Sakkari's grass season begins well
Top seed Maria Sakkari, who played her first-round match on Monday, advanced to the round-of-16. The Greek who lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual finalist, Karolina Muchova started her run on grass with a 6-2, 7-6(6) win over Xiyu Wang.
The world no. 8 needed an hour and 42 minutes to get the match done. Sakkari will now play Alize Cornet. The Frenchwoman came from a set down in her opening-round clash against local wildcard, Katie Swan. After two hours and five minutes of play, Cornet won 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The all-Swiss clash between Jil Teichmann and Viktorija Golubic saw the latter prevail. Golubic took an hour and 22 minutes to clinch a 6-4, 6-3 win. Golubic will now play former Nottingham winner, Donna Vekic. The Croatian, seeded fourth, beat Cristina Bucsa 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Tatjana Maria, the surprise semi-finalist at 2022 Wimbledon, caused the sole upset of the draw so far. The German took down sixth seed Shuai Zhang 6-1, 6-4. Heather Watson will be Maria’s next opponent at the Rothesay Open.
The British qualifier won 6-4, 6-3 against Maria’s compatriot, Jule Niemeier. 