WTA roundup: Qinwen Zheng notches first-round upset at Athens
Unseeded Qinwen Zheng of China pulled off a major first-round upset at the Athens Open on Monday, sweeping past Spain's No. 6 seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 6-1.
Zheng showcased a powerful performance by collecting seven aces to zero for Bouzas Maneiro across the one-hour and 49-minute match.
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The Chinese player demonstrated exceptional resilience by saving 6 of 7 break points while successfully converting 4 of 7 break-point opportunities against her opponent.
After securing a critical break to close out a highly competitive first set, Zheng broke Bouzas Maneiro twice in the second set to cruise comfortably to victory. In another notable upset in Athens, unseeded Mai Hontama of Japan upended Poland's No. 8 seed Magda Linette with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 victory.
Hontama thoroughly disrupted Linette's service games by breaking the seeded player's serve three distinct times in each set. Other opening-round winners advancing in the Athens field included home favorite and No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari, alongside No. 5 seed Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic.
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American Alycia Parks, Austria's Lilli Tagger, Australia's Elena Micic, and Great Britain's Harriet Dart also secured victories to advance through their respective matches.
At the UniCredit Iasi Open in Romania, No. 2 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia survived a scare by outlasting Argentine wild card Nadia Podoroska 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on clay. Marcinko saved an impressive 16 of 19 break points—including all eight in the deciding set—while Hungary's No. 7 seed Anna Bondar, Armenia's Alina Charaeva, and France's Clara Burel also won.
