The top two players in this year’s field at the Guadalajara Open say they are not feeling the pressure following their opening wins at the WTA 1000 event.
Top seed Ons Jabur kicked-off her campaign with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2, win over Alycia Parks who is currently ranked 38 places lower than her in the WTA standings. The Tunisian only dropped her serve once in the match and won 83% of her first service points. She now leads Parks 3-0 in their head-to-head.
It is only the third time this season that Jabeur has been the top seed of a tournament after Adelaide where she reached the semi-finals and San Diego where she lost her opening match.
“I try to see it as a good pressure. I’ve been in this situation a couple of times,” she commented on the position during her press conference. “One time I handled it very well, the other time not. So let’s see.”
“I’m just trying to enjoy and not overthink about being seeded No. 1, and try to be here, and hopefully it’s going to be great.”
The world No.7 will next play Maria Trevisan who beat compatriot Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-2. It will be the first time the two players have clashed on the Tour since 2021.
Also through to the next round is second seed Maria Sakkari who is seeking her first singles title since 2019. The Greek eased to a 6-2, 6-4, win over Australia’s Storm Hunter. Sakkari is hoping to get some momentum back into her tennis heading into the final stage of the season. In her past five tournaments played, she has only won back-to-back matches in one of them.
“I think it was a very solid match. It was a little tricky in the second set. But at the same time, it was good that I put myself in that situation and I overcame it. I’m very happy to be in the third round.” She said after defeating Hunter.
One thing playing in Sakkari’s favour is the support she has been receiving from the locals. She says the event feels like ‘home’ to her but does being the local favourite add more pressure for her?
“For me, it’s not pressure, it’s just motivation to just stay here until Saturday,” she replied “I just feel like that would be amazing. That would be something that I really want. I just want to keep feeling that energy and love from the people every single day.”
Sakkari will next play camila Giorgi.
Other winners in Guadalajara include Caroline Garcia who ousted Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, after almost three hours of play. However, Madison Keys has become the highest-ranked player to fall in the tournament so far after losing in straight sets to Emma Navarro.
The winner of this week’s tournament will earn $454,500 in prize money.
