FIVE of the eight matches in Round of 32 of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy yesterday saw the lower ranked opponent triumph in a day of upsets.

In one of the tightest matches of the day, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic knocked off fifth seed Czech, Marketa Vondrousova in three sets, winning 3-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes. The Australian had to fight from a set down to post a good win, breaking six times to five and making the most of the Czech’s second serve, with a 61.4 per cent success rate. Tomljanovic left a lot to be desired on her serve, with an efficiency of just 49.5, and four double faults for just one ace. In the first set, she won just 11 points on serve and was broken twice in a disappointing display. But after that, the 57th ranked player got back on top and moved onto the next round.

In other results, veteran Belgian, Alison Van Uytvanck defeated dangerous Frenchwoman, Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-1, while it was better news for 23-year-old compatriot Oceane Dodin, with the 153rd ranked player defeating the 65th ranked Slovakian, Viktoria Kuzmova 6-2 6-2. In the all-French battle, Fiona Ferro fought hard to see past Caroline Garcia 7-5 3-6 6-3, while in the all-Russian clash, Ekaterina Alexandrova managed to break in the crucial final game to survive a thriller against Daria Kasatkina 6-4 3-6 6-4 in two hours. But the action did not stop there with seventh seed Croatian Donna Vekic defeating American Kristie Ahn, while Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and Veronika Kudermetova both booked spots in the Round of 16 with wins.

Round of 32 Results:

A. Tomljanovic (AUS) defeated [5] M. Vondrousova (CZE) 3-6 6-3 6-4
[7] D. Vekic (CRO) defeated K. Ahn (USA) 6-4 6-1
E. Alexandrova (RUS) defeated D. Kasatkina (RUS) 6-4 3-6 6-4
F. Ferro (FRA) defeated C. Garcia (FRA) 7-5 3-6 6-3
V. Kudermetova (RUS) defeated Y. Putintseva (KAZ) 7-6 1-6 7-5
A. Van uytvanck (BEL) defeated K. Mladenovic (FRA) 6-4 6-1
S. Kuznetsova (RUS) defeated J. Brady (USA) 6-3 6-1
O. Dodin (FRA) defeated V. Kuzmova (SVK) 6-2 6-2