Surprising WTA Roundup: Little-Known Fanny Stollar Causes Upset Against Tatjana Maria in Budapest

 

In the Hungarian Grand Prix, the fifth-seeded Tatjana Maria from Germany suffered a surprise defeat in the second round on Wednesday in Budapest. She was ousted by the 442nd-ranked player in the world, Fanny Stollar of Hungary, who won a thrilling match with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6). Stollar, playing on her home turf, capitalized on six out of 16 break chances, notably in the 12th game of the third set when Maria was serving at 6-5 for the match, but couldn't close it out, leading to a tiebreak.

Another upset occurred when the fourth-seeded Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan lost to an unseeded player, American Claire Liu, who secured a 6-3, 7-6 (8) victory. The match saw streaks of momentum, with Liu finishing the first set with two consecutive wins and Putintseva initially taking a commanding 5-0 lead in the second. However, Liu made an impressive comeback, winning the next six games to take the lead before the set and match were ultimately decided by a tiebreak.

On the same day, eighth-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Slovakia and Kaja Juvan from Slovenia also emerged victorious in their respective matches.

In the 34 Palermo Ladies Open in Italy, the second-seeded player, Qinwen Zheng of China, defeated France's Diane Parry in the second round with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The match was a closely contested battle, lasting two hours and 48 minutes, with Zheng prevailing after an untimely service break by Parry at 5-5 in the third set.

Seventh-seeded Emma Navarro from the United States secured her spot in the next round with an impressive 6-2, 6-1 victory over Italy's Camilla Rosatello, winning an impressive 85.3 percent of her first-serve points. Additionally, Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain claimed a decisive 6-3, 6-2 win against Italy's Nuria Brancaccio, while France's Clara Burel defeated Cristina Bucsa of Spain with a scoreline of 6-2, 6-4, advancing to the next stage of the tournament.