There were contrasting fortunes for two of the Top 3 seeds on Tuesday at the bett1open. While No.2 seed Ons Jabeur rolled in a straight-sets win over Karolina Muchova, Veronika Kudermetova came back from the brink in a stunning upset of No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Trailing 6-2, 5-2 against Sabalenka, Kudermetova came all the way back in a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory that lasted 2 hours, 11 minutes. She'd never won a set in three prior meetings against Sabalenka, and rallied for a first win against her never facing match point.
Kudermetova has now beaten a Top 10 player on all three surfaces in 2022. In February on hard courts, she defeated Garbiñe Muguruza, and on clay at Roland Garros, she defeated Paula Badosa en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Both players came into their second grass-court event of the summer in form: Sabalenka was runner-up to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Libema Open, while Kudermetova also lost to the eventual champion in the semifinals. Up next for Kudermetova is defending champion Liudmila Samsonova, who was a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek in Round 1.
Highlights: Samsonova def. Zidansek
Playing her first match since a first round defeat to Magda Linette in Paris, Jabeur broke serve three times in a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 win over Muchova to reach Round 2.
With Paris setback behind her, Jabeur hungry for success on grass
Jabeur won the last four games of the opening set, and took an early 3-0 lead in the second to beat Muchova in their first-ever meeting. Jabeur saved all four break points she faced, three of which came at 0-40 in the opening game of the second set.
Jabeur was pleased with her performance after the match. "A great start, especially playing a tricky player," she said. "I'm pretty good with my game, but there's a few things that I need to improve more and get used to grass. But yeah, overall I'm enjoying playing here and hopefully I can continue to play better."
Petkovic upsets Muguruza; Sakkari rolls in Berlin
Muchova was also playing her first match since Roland Garros, where she was forced to retire in the final set of her third round clash against American Amanda Anisimova after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the match.
