BERLIN – Top seed Ons Jabeur cruised into the second round of the WTA tournament in Berlin on Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Karolina Muchova.
After world number one Iga Swiatek withdrew to rest a shoulder problem, Jabeur lived up to her billing as top seed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Jabeur, making her first appearance since an opening-round defeat at the French Open, had little trouble in progressing to next face Alycia Parks of the US.
“It was a tricky match with a lot of drop shots, but I want to keep improving,” said Jabeur, with one eye on Wimbledon, after her 26th win of the year.
The Tunisian looked comfortable after switching from clay in Paris to grass courts.
“I like playing on it, it reminds me of playing football. I had a lot of time to prepare and adapt, but hopefully the journey will continue for me here.” Earlier, third seed Aryna Sabalenka crashed out as Veronika Kudermetova fought back from the brink to pull off an upset.
Trailing 6-2, 5-2, Kudermetova powered back to claim a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory in well over two hours to advance to the second round to face fellow Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
Andrea Petkovic won 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 against Spanish fifth seed Garbine Muguruza.
The German will next meet Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round.
