Fifth seed Anastasia Potapova came through the toughest test of the day at the Libema Open, recovering from a set and a break down to beat home wild card Suzan Lamens and reach the second round. The day's biggest result went the other way for a seed: qualifier Caty McNally completed an overnight-suspended win over fourth seed Emma Navarro. Solana Sierra, Ajla Tomljanovic and Hanne Vandewinkel also advanced as the first round finally finished a day late. Rain again shaped the schedule, with only one second-round match reaching the court before play stopped, leaving all eight round-of-16 ties for Thursday.
Potapova digs out of trouble against Lamens
Sixth seed Anastasia Potapova recovered from a set and a break down to beat home wild card Suzan Lamens 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 in her first match on grass this year. After dropping a tight opening-set tiebreak, Potapova fell behind 1-4 in the decider before steadying, breaking back and running out the last stretch as Lamens could not hold the lead. The serve carried her through the tight moments, winning 20 of 27 serve pressure points, though the return game was patchy, 14 of 33 return pressure points. Potapova arrived off the best clay stretch of her career, including a Madrid semifinal run and a win over Coco Gauff at Roland Garros, and this was a useful first hit-out on a surface where her record is thin.
McNally edges out Navarro in a serve-trading mess
Caty McNally finished off fourth seed Emma Navarro 4-6, 6-0, 6-4, completing a match suspended overnight with the qualifier a break up in the decider. Once the first set was gone, holds became scarce for both players: the two traded seven straight breaks across the closing sets, and from the start of the second Navarro won just one of her last eight service games. McNally did most of her damage on return, winning 24 of 34 return pressure points, and held herself together on serve in the swings, taking 10 of 25 serve pressure points when behind in her own games. It was the fourth career meeting between the two. Navarro had reached the Strasbourg final last month, beating Victoria Mboko for the title, but found no rhythm here in her first match of the grass season
Sierra ends Boisson's grass debut struggles
Solana Sierra beat Lois Boisson 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in a scrappy match that turned on serve from both sides, with eleven double faults between them. Sierra won 27 of 41 serve pressure points and stayed aggressive on return to move ahead in the third. The result moves her head-to-head over Boisson to 2-0. Boisson played her first match since a heavy ranking drop, down to No. 155 after failing to defend the points from last year's Roland Garros semifinal run, and the match underlined how narrow her game is away from clay: she has still never won a main-tour match on grass, a surface she barely plays. Sierra, by contrast, reached the Wimbledon fourth round last season and now holds a 4-1 grass record over the past year.
Vandewinkel completes a comeback over Bartunkova
Hanne Vandewinkel finished off a 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 win over Nikola Bartunkova, recovering twice from behind in a match suspended overnight. Bartunkova, fresh from the WTA 125 Birmingham final, took the first set and led 4-1 in the second-set tiebreak before Vandewinkel pulled it back, then went up 2-0 in the third only to drop the set 5-7. Vandewinkel held firm under pressure when it mattered, winning 28 of 43 serve pressure points and saving break points across the closing games. It is only her second career win at tour level, after a first in Bogota in March.
Tomljanovic snaps a losing run against Bouzas Maneiro
Ajla Tomljanovic beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 6-1 for her first win in three months, ending a run of five straight defeats and a stretch of just two wins in her last ten matches. Despite a thin 1-4 grass record over the past year, she controlled the match from the baseline, winning 8 of 12 serve pressure points and 14 of 27 return pressure points to break down Bouzas Maneiro's serve repeatedly through the second set.
Round of 16 in full on Thursday after the washout
The rain leaves all eight round-of-16 matches for Thursday, and the order of play reads stronger than a WTA 250 usually manages this early in the grass season. The match of the round is a rematch of last year's final: defending champion Elise Mertens against Elena Gabriela Ruse, the player she beat for the title twelve months ago on this same court. Mertens has not been tested yet, having come through her opener without facing a serve pressure point, while Ruse arrives off the win that ended her recent losing run.
The other tie that stands out pairs the youngest player left with one of the oldest. Seventeen-year-old Mia Pohankova, a day after removing second seed Tauson, meets Magda Linette, a veteran almost twice her age who came from a set down past Birrell. Elsewhere, fifth seed Anastasia Potapova faces Zeynep Sonmez in a meeting of two players who needed three sets to get through, while Caty McNally, fresh from taking out fourth seed Navarro, plays Solana Sierra. Barbora Krejcikova takes on home hope Hanne Vandewinkel, and Ajla Tomljanovic, just past a long losing run, runs into Dayana Yastremska and her Parma-title form. The last match brings together two of the draw's unlikeliest survivors, wild card Robin Montgomery and qualifier Greet Minnen, each through after beating a seed and one win from a quarterfinal.
