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Top seed Jasmine Paolini made her way into the second round of the Jasmin Open in Monastir. The Italian claimed a 6-4, 6-2 win over Alize Cornet after an hour and 20 minutes. The Frenchwoman was the finalist in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
Paolini won 62% of her first-serve points to Cornet’s 53%. She also won 62% points on return on the 33-year-old’s second serve. Both players faced seven break points each but Paolini saved five of these while Cornet could save only two.
Paolini finished with 63 points to her rival’s 46 for the match. This has been a good start for the 27-year-old Paolini who earlier on Monday, 16th October, broke into the top-30 of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career, in the 30th place.
Jasmin Open: Elise Mertens made to work in bid to retain title
Meanwhile, the 2022 titlist in Tunisia, Elise Mertens encountered problems of her own in her debut this season. The Belgian, seeded second, scored a 7-5, 6-0 win over Alexandra Eala after an hour and 45 minutes.
When the match began, it was Eala who took charge of dictating play. She secured a 5-1 lead for herself and looked comfortably placed to pocket the first set. However, it ended up being easier said than done for her as Mertens picked up pace to first win six consecutive games in the opening set and taking the lead for herself.
In the second set, she won six more games in a row to deny Eala any possibility of making a comeback in the match. Lucia Bronzetti, the sixth seed, was also among the winners on Tuesday. The Italian clinched a straightforward 6-1, 6-1 win over Kristina Kucova.
The match lasted merely 51 minutes. There were two seeds who exited the Jasmin Open in the first round. Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa ousted third seed Martina Trevisan 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz got the better of seventh seed Magdalena Frech 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.
