Unlike Monday’s 2 a.m. finish, first-round action completed on Tuesday at the Palermo Ladies Open before midnight.
Nineteen-year-old Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan recorded the first Top 20 victory of her career, showing great composure to see off second seed Marketa Vondrousova 1-6 7-5 6-4. The world No.121 Juvan’s opponent in the second round will be Italian Camila Giorgi, as the Italian, who matched her attractive snake print tennis dress with a beige face mask and Maria Sharapova Head racquet bag, thrilled the home crowd by dispatching Rebecca Peterson 7-5 6-4.
Top seed Petra Martic fought off all the four break points she faced to ease past Alison Van Uytvanck 6-0 6-3. The Croatian player will face Liudmila Samsonova in the second round, as the Russian qualifier upset Kirsten Flipkens 6-4 6-2 earlier on Tuesday.
Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich stunned fifth seed Elise Mertens 6-4 6-1 and advanced to the second round where she will play against Italian world No.95 Jasmine Paolini, who saved 24 break points to overcome Daria Kasatkina yesterday.
French players Fiona Ferro and Oceane Dodin advanced with victories over Nadia Podorska and Tamara Zidansek, respectively.
Fourth seed Anett Kontaveit wrapped up first-round action on Tuesday night with a 6-3 6-3 win over Patricia Maria Tig.
Photographer Jimmie48 is sharing all his Tuesday’s photos from the Palermo Ladies Open in the gallery below.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2020 PALERMO LADIES OPEN:
- Monday: Vekic wins first main-draw WTA match after coronavirus hiatus, Pliskova closes the day at 2 a.m.
- Sunday: Smiles under masks as players welcome the return of competition
- Saturday: Tennis finally returns after a five-month coronavirus shutdown
