Amelia Rajecki achieved a significant milestone by qualifying for the Birmingham WTA main draw for the first time. She secured an impressive victory over no. 9 Q seed Katie Volynets (CH 74), winning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, despite being ranked 717 places below her opponent. This follows her earlier upset against no. 6 Q seed Wang Yafan. In Nottingham, Emma Raducanu won a grueling first set against Katie Boulter 7-6(13) in 80 minutes at the Rothesay Open, but play was suspended due to darkness. Additionally, Karolina Pliskova defeated Diane Parry 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-4 to reach her 34th career singles final, her 7th grass final, where she will face either Raducanu or Boulter.
Birmingham WTA 250: Qualifiers now placed and (Q) Amelia Rajecki gets Diana Shnaider WR 49 (CH 47 last month), who went to the same university (North Carolina State) in R1! Also, (WC) @harriet_dart will play (Q) Moyuka Uchijama JPN WR 72 (=CH). https://t.co/YKGeWoG1Ll
Birmingham WTA 250: Qualifiers now placed and (Q) Amelia Rajecki gets Diana Shnaider WR 49 (CH 47 last month), who went to the same university (North Carolina) in R1! Also, (WC) @harriet_dart will play (Q) Moyuka Uchijama JPN WR 72 (=CH). https://t.co/YKGeWoG1Ll
Ilkley W100: (WC) @marnibanks will face no. 2 seed Mai Hontama JPN WR 111 (CH 108 in 2024) in R1.
Ilkley W100: (WC) Hannah Klugman will take on no. 3 seed Chloé Paquet FRA WR 118 (CH 101 in 2022) in R1, while fellow-junior (WC) @mingge_mimi will play a qualifier.
Ilkley W100: In R1, no. 5 seed @the_lil_y has drawn Elena-Gabriela Ruse ROU WR 150 (CH 51 in 2022), (WC) @kartal_sonay will play a qualifier and the winners will meet in R2.
Ilkley W100 Q: Naiktha Bains will play Mariam Bolkvadze GEO WR 324 (CH 151 in 2022) for a place in the main draw.
Turns out both players in the Nottingham WTA final are on 9-match winning streaks here! Katie, obviously, as last year's winner, and Plíšková is playing here for the first time since she won the title 8 years ago!
Ilkley W100 Q: In the final qualifying round, (WC) @rastoiber will face no. 2 Q seed Talia Gibson AUS WR 179 (=CH), who has beaten (WC) Hephzibah Oluwadare 0&1 :-(
Ilkley W100 QR1: Naiktha Bains upsets no. 8 Q seed Ma Yexin CHN WR 204 (CH 177 last month), 331 places above her, 7-6(5) 7-5 :-)
Birmingham WTA R1: The main draw is out, including two British wild cards. (WC) @HeatherWatson92 will take on no. 8 seed Marie Bouzková CZE WR 37 (CH 24 in 2022) (WC) @harriet_dart will play a qualifier (1/2)
Ilkley W100 Q: In the FQR, (WC) Lauryn John-Baptiste will face no. 1 Q seed Maya Joint USA WR 177 (=CH; junior CH 20 in Jan).
Ilkley W100 QR1: @rastoiber thrashes no. 14 Q seed Maddison Inglis AUS WR 242 (CH 112 in 2020), 442 places above her, 1&0 :-) That's Ranah's 3rd win against a top 250 player (the other two were also in Ilkley in 2022), and what a scoreline!
Former #1 Karolina Pliskova beats Diane Parry 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-4 to reach her 34th (!) career singles final in Nottingham. 7th grass final, first since... Wimbledon 2021! Later today vs. Raducanu or Boulter.
Ilkley W100 Q: In the FQR, (WC) @ellamcdonald__ will take on no. 16 Q seed Nigina Abduraimova UZB WR 298 (CH 144 in 2014), who has just beaten Isabelle Lacy, who had a set point in the 1st set, 7-6(7) 6-2 :-( H2H 0-1 - the Uzbek won 3&4 in R1 at Loughborough W25 in 2022
Ilkley W100 QR1: Well done also to (WC) Lauryn John-Baptiste, who upset no. 9 Q seed Mananchaya Sawangkaew THA WR 206 (CH 188 last month), 959 places above her, 3&5 - that's a career best win by ranking too! :-)
Amelia Rajecki had never beaten a top 250 player in a WTA-ranked event before this weekend, now she has upset two top 80 players in as many days! :-)
Birmingham WTA FQR: Amazing victory for (WC) Amelia Rajecki, who wins 6 games in a row from 0-4 down in the final set to upset no. 9 Q seed Katie Volynets USA WR 77 (CH 74 in 2023), 717 places above her, 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 to qualify for a WTA main draw for the first time! :-) https://t.co/ZeC9oSN9J6
Amelia Rajecki beats Katie Volynets 6-3 6-7 6-4 to qualify for the #RothesayClassic in Birmingham. https://t.co/JoZoR8J9ha
Birmingham WTA QR1: W1 L5 for the Brits today. That great win for Millie and Eden took a set off no. 2 Q seed Dolehide USA, but losses in straight sets to much higher-ranked opponents for Emily, Mika, Freya and Beth. https://t.co/ZEwO9z2EWO
Emma Raducanu draws first blood in Nottingham battle with Katie Boulter https://t.co/4UzjBteRYU
Birmingham WTA Q: (WC) Amelia Rajecki will take on no. 9 Q seed Katie Volynets USA WR 77 (CH 74 in 2023) for a place in the main draw.
Birmingham WTA QR1: W1 L5 for the Brits today with Naiktha yet to play. A great win for Millie and Eden took a set off no. 2 Q seed Dolehide USA, but losses in straight sets to much higher-ranked opponents for Emily, Mika, Freya and Beth. https://t.co/ZEwO9z2EWO
Nottingham WTA doubles: In the final, @harriet_dart & Diane Parry FRA will play top seeds Dabrowski CAN & Routliffe NZL - who knocked out the last all-GB pair, Naiktha & Maia, 1&3 today :-( - or Krueger USA & Zhang CHN, who have yet to play their SF.
W100 Ilkley qualifying draw https://t.co/gRbBPgYCZN
A ridiculous set of tennis from both @katiecboulter & @EmmaRaducanu at the #RothesayOpen Play is suspended outdoors in Nottingham for the night 🌅 #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 https://t.co/I8v3J0RCsS
Quite a set between Raducanu and Boulter. Emma takes it 7-6(13) in 80 (!!!) minutes. Looks like they will start the 2nd set today before it gets too dark. Second semifinal (Pliskova vs. Parry) is tomorrow morning...)
Time for Raducanu vs. Boulter 👀
Birmingham WTA QR1: A huge career best win for (WC) Amelia Rajecki, who upsets no. 6 Q seed Wang Yafan CHN WR 72 (CH 47 in 2019), 722 places above her, 7-6(5) 7-6(6)! Her first win against a top 100 player, previous best was against WR 289.