Sabalenka wins opening match on grass in Berlin

BERLIN: Top seed Aryna Sabalenka won her opening match Tuesday at the German Open, a traditional Berlin warm-up tournament for Wimbledon.

The world number two beat veteran Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 to make it through to the last 16 ahead of next month´s Grand Slam at the All England Club.

The Australian Open champion, who has lost just six matches this season, called her 38-year-old opponent, who played her first match at the Berlin tournament in 2003, a "legend".

"Probably one day I´ll also be a legend here, losing to someone here and you´ll remind me that I won my first match here when the girl was five years old," Sabalenka said on court after the match.

Later on Tuesday, American teenager Coco Gauff defeated Czech Katerina Siniakova in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

The 19-year-old was dominant throughout in her first appearance on grass this year, one year after making it to the semi-finals in the German capital.

Defending champion Ons Jabeur lost her bid to defend her crown, going down to German qualifier Jule Niemeier 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Ranked 120th in the world, Niemeier saved two points on serve in the ninth game of the opening set when she was down 5-3, before breaking serve in the opening game of the second set.

Niemeier, 23, missed her first match point late in the set but made the most of her second to qualify for the last 16.

Elena Rybakina won her opening match in straight sets as she warms up for her Wimbledon title defence in July.

The Kazakh world number three beat Polina Kudermetova 6-4, 6-2.

After winning the first game, Rybakina had to wait three hours as a thunderstorm swept across the venue before play could resume.

The WTA tournament in Berlin, taking place just two weeks before the start of Wimbledon, is a star-studded event, with nine of the world´s top 10-ranked women participating.