Marketa Vondrousova Dominates in Berlin

Marketa Vondrousova, Wimbledon champion started her grass-court season with a straight-sets victory over Spain’s Rebeka Masarova at the Berlin Open. The 24-year-old Czech defeated Masarova 6-4, 6-3 in the German capital and will face Russian Anna Kalinskaya next. Ranked sixth globally, Marketa Vondrousova made history by defeating Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final as an unseeded player. Following her maiden Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon, she has now won eight consecutive matches on grass.

In her match against Masarova, Vondrousova saved three break points and broke in the ninth game to win the set. She continued her momentum into the second set, immediately breaking Masarova’s serve and building a 4-1 lead. Despite Masarova’s efforts, Vondrousova closed out the match on her opponent’s serve, starting her Wimbledon title defense successfully. The Berlin Open features eight of the world’s top 10 players, with only top-ranked Iga Swiatek and seventh-ranked Jasmine Paolini absent.

Three pivotal matches to watch at the Berlin Open feature Chinese sixth seed Zheng Qinwen against four-time major winner Naomi Osaka. Greek seventh seed Maria Sakkari will square off against two-time Slam champion Victoria Azarenka. Tunisian eighth seed Jabeur is scheduled to compete against Wang Xinyu. Meanwhile, at the Birmingham Classic, defending champion Jelena Ostapenko suffered an early exit, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Italian 23-year-old Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her opening match.

Cocciaretto troubled the former French Open winner with three breaks in the first set. She then clinched victory by winning four consecutive games to close out the set. Cocciaretto secured victory with her seventh match point after a single break in the second set. In Birmingham, Romanian third seed Sorana Cirstea also exited the tournament after a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 defeat to Lin Zhu. Ostapenko and Cirstea’s exits leave Czech world number 22 Barbora Krejcikova and British number one Katie Boulter as the top seeds.

Fourth seed Boulter, who recently retained her Nottingham Open title, is set to face Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in her upcoming match. Fellow Britons Harriet Dart, Heather Watson, and Amelia Rajecki will also play their opening matches on Tuesday. Canadian sixth seed Leylah Fernandez cruised past Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory. Russian seventh seed Anastasia Potapova also progressed, defeating compatriot Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-4.