In a disappointing start to the tournament, unseeded duo Serena Williams and Karolina Muchova suffered an early exit from the WTA 500 Berlin Tennis Open on Tuesday.
In the WTA 500 Berlin Tennis Open, unseeded tennis stars Serena Williams and Karolina Muchova suffered a disappointing loss on Tuesday, June 17.
Related ↗Garrick Higgo's absence from the U.S. Open explained by a surprising reason.In Serena Williams' return to competition, she partnered with Muchova but ultimately succumbed to the combined forces of Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos in Berlin.
In singles action, the No. 7 seeded Muchova dominated China's Shuai Zhang with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, seeded sixth, was on track to win against Anna Kalinskaya of Russia before her opponent retired with a 6-1, 4-1 lead. Also advancing were Czech No. 8 seed Linda Noskova and Mexico's Renata Zarazua, who lost 6-1, 6-4.
Read next ↗Sri Lanka series sees return of Joseph and Da Silva to the West Indies team.Diane Parry of France secured a first-round victory in straight sets, joining several other players in achieving this feat.
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Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey secured a major upset by defeating top-seeded Leylah Fernandez from Canada with a score of 6-4, 7-6 (1) in the initial round. This victory marked the culmination of her hard-fought qualifying campaign, which required two successive wins to secure a spot in the tournament.
In the first round of doubles action in Berlin, seeded players faced unexpected losses. McCartney Kessler, ranked No. 8, was defeated by Katie Volynets with a score of 6-3, 6-3. Sara Bejlek, seeded No. 11, also fell short against Karolina Pliskova in a Czech matchup, winning the second set 7-6 (3) but ultimately losing 2-6, 6-2.
Ann Li, the No. 5 seed, secured her spot in the Round of 32 with a hard-fought win over Kimberly Birrell from Australia, prevailing 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Meanwhile, Caty McNally, Hannah Klugman, and Dayana Yastremska earned straight-set victories, while Viktorija Golubic required three sets to outlast Sofia Kenin.

