WTA roundup: Bernarda Pera starts strong in Adelaide

Field Level Media|published: Mon 8th January, 11:24 2024

Aug 30, 2023; Flushing, NY, USA; Bernarda Pera of the United States serves against Xiyu Wang of China on day three of the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. credits: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Lucky loser Bernarda Pera rallied to defeat Spain's Paula Badosa 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in an upset-filled opening round on Monday at the Adelaide International in Australia.

Pera dropped the opening set and trailed 3-1 in the third set before racing past Badosa, a wild-card entry playing for the first time since Wimbledon due to a stress fracture in her back.

Qualifiers Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anna Kalinskaya of Russia both ousted top-five seeds. Pavlyuchenkova defeated No. 5 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-3, 6-4, and Kalinskaya outlasted No. 4 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Other winners included Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, Spain's Cristina Bucsa and Romania's Ana Bogdan.

Hobart Invitational

Top-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium coasted to a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Danielle Collins in opening-round action in Australia.

No. 3 seed Lin Zhu of China and No. 8 Varvara Gracheva of France also advanced. Zhu was a 7-5, 6-1 winner against Italy's Lucia Bronzetti and Gracheva held off Peyton Stearns 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5 despite seven double faults.

Other first-round winners were Australian wild-card entry Daria Saville and Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, who will face Mertens next.

—Field Level Media