Field Level Media
09 Jun 2026, 03:10 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images)
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds each fell in straight sets on a chaotic first day of women's competition in the Libema Open at 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands on Monday.
No. 1 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia -- a two-time winner at the event in 2022 and '23 -- fell 6-4, 7-6 (5) to Hungary's Panna Udvardy, who ranks nearly 50 spots lower (65th to 17th). In a match that was statistically even in a number of spots, the difference may have been Udvardy's one more converted break (3 of 6) in an equal number of chances.
Second-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark lost 6-4, 6-4 to Slovakia's Mia Pohankova, a 17-year-old who won the final five games of the match to secure her first career top-30 win. No. 3 seed Belgian Elise Mertens avoided the same fate with a thorough 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Canada's Bianca Andreescu.
In other Monday action, Poland's Magda Linette rallied for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Australian Kimberly Birrell, Robin Montgomery pulled out a 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 victory against Daria Kasatkina of Australia and Ukraine's Daria Snigur swept Spain's Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-6 (2).
HSBC Championships
Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic rallied for a 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-3 defeat of McCartney Kessler in first-round action at London.
Pliskova was sloppy on her serve with three aces and 11 double faults but made up for it by winning 51% of her return points and converting 8 of 11 break-point opportunities.
In the only two other matches completed on Monday, when multiple matches were delayed or postponed by rain, Great Britain's Harriet Dart beat Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, while Romania's Jaqueline Cristian swept Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 7-6 (4).
The final match of the day, which pitted No. 8 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada against Great Britain's Katie Boulter, was suspended due to darkness with Fernandez up a set and the second set level at 3 games apiece.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Asia Pacific Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Asia Pacific Star.
More InformationTAIPEI, Taiwan: Taiwan should use its defense money more wisely and learn from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, especially...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Commission is considering new legislation that could require companies in sensitive sectors to diversify...
SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea, on June 4, revealed a new facility for producing fuel used in nuclear weapons, with leader Kim Jong...
BEIJING/TAIPEI: China, on June 4, strongly criticized comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the deadly crackdown...
TOKYO, Japan: Severe tropical storm Jangmi hit Japan on June 3, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that disrupted transport and businesses...
When a refrigerated freight train packed with fresh durians and mangosteens arrived at the Chinese rail station of Mohan after journeying...
NEW YORK, New York - World stock markets closed on a deeply divided note Monday, with Wall Street's technology sector powering the...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: S&P Dow Jones Indices has decided against changing its rules to allow newly public mega-cap companies to enter...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has called for greater industry coordination to ensure developers...
MILAN, Italy: Commerzbank said on June 5 that shares equivalent to 7.85 percent of its capital have been tendered under UniCredit's...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Commission is considering new legislation that could require companies in sensitive sectors to diversify...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. labor market continued to outperform expectations in May, with employers adding more jobs than forecast...
