LIMOGES, France – Mandy Minella sprung a surprise on the second day of play at the ENGIE Open de Limoges as she defeated No.1 seed Mihaela Buzarnescu, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
WTA World No.111 Minella hit an exemplary groove with her serve over the course of the match, during which she gave up only a couple of break points in the opening two sets.
Over the course of the encounter, she made an impressive 75% of her first serves, delivering nine aces, the statistics that underpinned a victory that was achieved by a slender margin over the course of three sets and near two hours.
Indeed, both players were near impeccable on their delivery in the decider until the ninth game, when it was the turn of the WTA World No.24 to serve. She was forced to save break point but then manufactured a match point of her own in the following game.
Minella showed her mental fortitude to deny the Romanian, then in the following game claimed the victory at the first opportunity.
With the top two seeds out in the first round – Alizé Cornet was defeated on Tuesday – the door is open for Pauline Parmentier to make a run at the title.
The Frenchwoman was pushed by compatriot Fiona Ferro in the first set, but came through to claim it 7-5, before breaking early in the second to book her passage through by taking it 6-2.
Earlier, qualifier Audrey Albie edged Veronika Kudermetova in two tight sets, 7-5, 7-6(7), but Marina Melnikova, who had also come through the preliminary rounds, was ousted by Margarita Gasparyan, 6-3, 6-3.
