A COUPLE of the WTA Tour’s rising stars are through to the Round of 16 after wins in the opening round of action at St Petersburg. The WTA Premier event is the biggest event since the Australian Open for those on the tour, with sixth seed, Maria Sakkari and eighth seed, Elena Rybakina both booking a spot in the second round.

Sakkari had to come from behind with a 3-6 6-4 7-6 win over Russian, Vitalia Diatchenko, eventually downing the home nation world number 89 in two hours and 38 minutes. Sakkari was hit and miss on her serve with eight aces and seven double faults, and was broken eight times. But while Diatchenko’s first serve percentage was higher – at 60.7 per cent compared to 58.2 per cent – her inability to get a serve in was costing her with a whopping 16 double faults – equivalent to four service games – with only two aces. Sakkari will want to improve on her effort in the next round, where she will play the winner of either Jelena Ostapenko – coming off a Fed Cup win over Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin – or qualifier, Alize Cornet.

In other results, Rybakina had an easier path to the next round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova, while teenage Russian talent, Anastasia Potapova booked a spot in the second round with the 101st ranked player downing 115th ranked 21-year-old compatriot, Liudmila Samsonova. Among those set to play tomorrow are experienced Alison Van Uytvanck up against Kristina Mladenovic, and Donna Vekic taking on American qualifier, Kristie Ahn.

Round of 32 Results:

[6] M. Sakkari (GRE) defeated V. Diatchenko (RUS) 3-6 6-4 7-6
[8] E. Rybakina (KAZ) defeated K. Siniakova (CZE) 6-3 6-4
A. Potapova (RUS) defeated L. Samsonova (RUS) 6-2 6-4