WTA roundup: Elise Mertens avoids day of upsets in Tunisia

Top seed Elise Mertens cruised to victory, but fourth-seeded Nadia Podoroska and fifth-seeded Jacqueline Cristian were not as fortunate in the first round of the Jasmin Open Tunisia on Tuesday in Monastir, Tunisia.

Belgium's Mertens, ranked No. 32 in the world, posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Anastasia Zakharova of Russia. Mertens converted 7 of 10 break-point chances and won 69.2 percent (9 of 13) of her first-serve points and 65.4 percent (17 of 26) on her second serves.

Antonia Ruzic of Croatia rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Argentina's Podoroska. British qualifier Sonay Kartal, ranked No. 151 in the world, ousted Romania's Cristian, ranked No. 74, in a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 battle in two hours and 43 minutes for her third Top 100 win of 2024. Kartal converted 8 of 13 break-point opportunities (61.5 percent) to 7 of 14 for Cristian.

Other first-round winners were seventh-seeded Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, Jana Fett of Croatia, Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, Ann Li of the United States, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine.

Guadalajara Open Akron

Ashlyn Krueger won a tough opening set before eliminating Tatjana Maria of Germany 7-5, 6-2 in the opening round of the WTA 500 tournament in Mexico.

Krueger collected four aces to counter nine double faults and saved 6 of 8 break points. Maria tallied seven double faults and saved 5 of 10 break points.

Japan's Ena Shibahara converted all five of her break points to get past Australia's Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Night matches included fifth-seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland facing Emina Bektas, and sixth-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.

--Field Level Media