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Soweto - Hungarian top seed Timea Babos easily won her first-round match at the Soweto Open on Tuesday, beating Israeli Keren Shlomo in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
The Hungarian tennis player, who is ranked 111th by the WTA, will face Turkey’s Pemra Ozgen in the second round of the ITF Women’s Circuit event.
“I think Keren played good and it was overall a good first round for me,” said Babos.
“But I’m not happy with my game and did some practice after.
“It’s never easy playing a match where you feel that you will win, so I pushed myself to get every point and not be lazy.
“I’ve always had to play 100 or 110 percent, and I feel if I’m not doing that, I’m not comfortable.”
Babos displayed an aggressive style of play on the court and got off to a strong start against Shlomo, easily winning the first set.
An uncomfortable Shlomo tried to fight back in the second set, winning two games, but was ultimately outclassed by the top seed, who won her first WTA title at the 2012 Monterrey Open.
“I was not happy with my return today and need to work on that in my next match,” Babos said.
“My serve was not that good as well. I believe it’s my biggest advantage and probably could be one of the best and biggest serves on tour, and today it didn’t work as well as I had hoped.”
In other matches, fourth seed Nadiya Kichenok eased into the second round, beating Alexandra Riley 6-2, 6-0, while eight seed Magda Linette from Poland cruised to a 7-5, 6-1 win over Basak Eraydin.
Also advancing were sixth seed Jovana Jaksic of Serbia and American Nicole Melichar.
Earlier, South Africa’s third-ranked player, Lynn Kiro, was outplayed 6-0, 6-2 by third seed Tadeja Majeric.
Kiro won only two games in the match, which proved to be a tall order for the Capetonian.
“I went into the match with nothing to lose as the underdog and my confidence was high,” said Kiro.
“I went on court and tried my best but a few things weren’t working.
“I struggled with my backhand today and I think I could work on moving it more around, and I also need to work on improving my tactics.”
Day two results for the women's Soweto Open, an ITF Challenger Tour event played at the Arthur Ash Tennis Complex in Jabavu, Soweto on Tuesday:
First round:
Singles
3-Tadeja Majeric (Slo) bt Lynn Kiro (RSA) 6-0, 6-2
6-Jovana Jaksic (Srb) bt Laura Pigossi (Bra) 6-3, 6-3
8-Magda Linette (Pol) bt Basek Eraydin (Tur) 7-5, 6-1
1-Timea Babos (Hun) bt Karen Shlomo (Isr) 6-1, 6-2
4-Nadiya Kichenok (Ukr) bt Alexandra Riley (USA) 6-2, 6-0
Zuzana Zlochova (Svk) bt Nicole Rottmann (Aut) 6-3, 6-2
Nicole Melichar (USA) bt Claudia Coppola (Ita) 6-0, 6-3
Jade Windley (GBR) bt Ani Vangelova (Bul) 6-2, 7-6 (7/4)
Justyna Jegiolka (Pol) bt Nathalia Rossi (bra) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1-Magda Linette (Pol)/Chanel Simmonds (RSA) bt Justyna Jegiolka (Pol)/Alexandra Riley (USA) 6-1, 6-1
2-Basak Eraydin (Tur)/Julia Glushko (Isr) bt Ilze Hattingh/Madrie le Roux (RSA) 6-4, 6-4
Laura Pigossi (Bra)/Zuzana Zlochova (Svk) bt 4-Nadiya Kichenok (Ukr)/Margarita Lazareva (Rus) 6-3, 5-7, (11-9 MTB)
Tadeja Majeric (Slo)/Keren Shlomo (Isr) bt Zanmarie Pienaar/Jeanna Schmidt (RSA) 6-1, 6-4
Lynn Kiro (RSA)/Nathalia Rossi (Bra) bt Kim-Alice Grajdek (Ger)/Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 6-3 (Grajdek retired injured leg)
Samantha Murray/Jade Windley (GBR) bt Nicole Melichar (USA)/Melis Sezer (Tur) 6-4, 5-7, (12-10 MTB)
