Fourth seed Kirsten Flipkens was upset in the first round of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open on Tuesday, while Dominika Cibulkova, the 2011 champion at the Kremlin Cup, was a first-round casualty at this year’s edition of the tournament.
In their first career encounter, 144th-ranked Katarzyna Piter managed to overwhelm Kirsten Flipkens, counterbalancing zero aces to her opponent’s five by converting four break points, two in each set, and saving as much with an amazing first serve percentage to close the match 6-4 6-2. The 22-year-old Piter has won six ITF singles titles, but hasn’t had much luck on the WTA Tour. Her last appearance was last week in Linz, when she was eliminated in the second round by Dominika Cibulkova 6-0 6-1. And mentioning Cibulkova, the ninth-seeded Slovak was an early casualty at the other tournament held this week, the Premier-level Kremlin Cup, falling to Serbian world No.92 Vesna Dolonc 3-6 7-5 6-3 in the first round. Cibulkova’s first WTA title was the Kremlin Cup two years ago.
Besides Flipkens, one more seed was thrown out in today’s first-round action in Luxembourg, as Stefanie Voegele stunned seed No.6 Mona Barthel 1-6 6-4 7-6(3). (photo: JJ Tennis)
