TENNIS – Russia’s Ekaterina Ovcharenko led eight players yesterday into the singles main draw of the W75 Manama Bahrain Open – the first-ever tournament to be hosted by the kingdom on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Tour Calendar.
Ovcharenko, ranked 490th in the world as of last night, secured her spot in the tournament proper after upsetting compatriot and qualifying’s top seed Alevtina Ibragimova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a hotly contested match played at the Public Security Officers Club in Gudaibiya.
Also marching through to the main draw yesterday were Rina Saigo from Japan, Wushuang Zheng from China, Fiona Ferro from France, Valentina Steiner from Germany, and the Russian trio of Maria Kalyakina, Varvara Panshina, and Jana Kolodynska.
Main draw matches are scheduled to begin today with the first round at the same venue from 11am.
Andorra’s Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, ranked 114th in the world, is the top seed, while Hanne Vandewinkel from Belgium, 125th on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Rankings, is seeded second. Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands, 133rd in the world, is the third seed and Maria Timofeeva from Uzbekistan, ranked 138th, is fourth.
In yesterday’s deciding round of qualification, Saigo beat Russian Ekaterina Yashina 7-5, 6-3 to book her main draw slot.
Zheng advanced following her 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Ankita Raina from India.
Ferro was a 6-4, 6-3 winner against Jenna De Falco from the US to make it through, while Steiner ousted fellow-German Mina Hodzic 6-3, 6-2.
Kalyakina battled back from a set down to overcome a tough challenge from Bulgaria’s Isabella Shinikova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Panshina did the same against Germany’s Antonio Schmidt in a 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-1 result, and Kolodynska completed the main draw qualifiers after battling past Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty from India 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-1.
The W75 Manama Bahrain Open offers $60,000 in total prize money, and it features some of the world’s top women’s professional players with leading WTA rankings.
W75 tournaments on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour offer 75 WTA ranking points to the singles winner.
These competitions are in similar standing to a men’s ATP Challenger event within the international tennis structure.
The W75 Manama Bahrain Open is the latest major international tennis event hosted by the kingdom in the past few months.
In November and December of last year, Bahrain staged an ATP Challenger Tour event, a pair of competitions on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour, and the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group V.
There were also junior tournaments under the ITF and Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) banners, as well as Arab and Gulf championships at the elite men’s and juniors levels.
All are invited to watch this week’s action W75 Manama Bahrain Open and enjoy the exciting matches.
Entrance to the Public Security Officers Club for fans is free of charge.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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