We're one day away from the start of the main draw at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Four players gained their pass to the main draw: Kateryna Kozlova, Katerina Siniakova, Klara Koukalova and Tamira Paszek.

Kozlova Defeats Top Seed Siegemund

The top seed in qualifying, Laura Siegemund, couldn’t move onto the main draw after losing to Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova. Siegemund started the match with a break, but the 21-year-old Kozlova broke two games later to level the match to 2-2. Kozlova broke again and would serve for the first set, but was unable to close it out. Just when it seemed Siegemund was about to pull off the comeback, she was broken after saving one set point. Kozlova won the first set 6-4. The second set was dominated by the Ukrainian, breaking the top seed three times to win the match 6-4,6-0.

Kateryna Kozlova will face Barbora Strycova in the first round of the tournament. This will be the first meeting between the two. As for Siegemund, she will stay in the tournament. She was named a "Lucky Loser" and will play Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.  

Siniakova Defeats Panova, Gets Babos in Round One

Alexandra Panova started the match with a break point that she failed to convert. Soon after, she couldn’t hold her serve and handed Siniakova the first break of the match. Both players held their serves without complications during the rest of the set, but one break was enough for the number two seed to win the first set 6-3.  

In the second set both players threw away their chances to convert a break in the early games. Once again the Czech was the first one to get the lead, after breaking Panova to lead 3-2. There wasn’t much the Russian could do to prevent the unavoidable, as Siniakova was determined to win the match. She would break serve for the second time in the set to close in on the win. Siniakova had to go through three match points to finally win the match 6-3, 6-3.

In the first match of the main draw, Siniakova will face Timea Babos. The Hungarian leads their head-to-head 1-0, after their meeting in Dubai last year where she won 6-1 4-6 6-1.

Koukalova Into the Main Draw After Straight Sets Win

Former top 20, Klara Koukalova, would take on Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig for a place in the main draw. It was a more complicated match than what the score would reveal. The Czech started the match with a break, but even at that first game, it was easy to tell the games between these two players would be long. With a break up, Koukalova struggled to confirm the break as she had to save one break point. Finally, she was able to hold after four deuces. In one of the shortest games of the set, Tig was able to win the break back to level up to 2-2.

Tig then had a difficult game to hold as she faced three break points, but eventually held her serve. Both players were having difficulty holding their serve and now it was Koukalova’s time to struggle with her own in what was the longest game of the match. Things started to look easier for the Czech as she broke in the next game and then held to love. On her serve, Tig saved two set points, but there was nothing she could do to stop Koukalova from winning the first set 6-4.

The second set was less competitive as the Romanian decreased her level and the Czech took all the opportunities. On the third game of the second set, Koukalova broke to love after a winning backhand return. Koukalova broke again, but Tig responded with a break back. Still, the Czech was leading. After one hour and 36 minutes, Koukalova won the match 6-4, 6-3.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will be the opponent of Koukalova in the first round. The head-to-head is tied 2-2. Their last match was in 2012 in Eastbourne where Koukalova won 6-3, 7-5.

Karatantcheva Loses to Tamira Paszek

Two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tamira Paszek took part in the final round of the qualifying, facing 2005 French Open quarterfinalist, Sesil Karatantcheva. The match started with four straight breaks and it was the Bulgarian who was the first one to hold her serve in the set. Three straight service holds would follow. A, unforced forehand error gave Paszek the first break and allow her to serve for the first set. The Austrian had a set point on her serve, but a long ball handed the break to Karatantcheva. The end of the set would be defined with a tiebreak. At 2-0 down, Paszek went on to win five straight points. After 55 minutes, a long ball would give the set to Paszek.

The Austrian led in the second set 3-0 after breaking in the second game of the set. The Bulgarian got a break in the fifth game, but was unable to hold her own serve to level up the match. Paszek gave Karatantcheva another chance after losing her serve. This time, the Bulgarian wouldn’t waste her chance to come back into the set, holding easily to 4-4. After holding her serve, Paszek was one game away from the main draw. It took her three match points to win 7-6, 6-4.

In the main draw, she will take on Carina Witthoeft. Paszek won their only meeting in 2014 during French Open qualifying.

Day Two Preview

All four players coming from qualifying will play on Tuesday. The line-up for tomorrow only features two seeds, fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and ninth seed Monica Niculescu.

The doubles event will also kick off with two-time Grand Slam champions, Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova, taking on Xenia Knoll and Demi Schuurs.

Day Two Order of Play

Sibur Arena - 11:00 am

  • Jelena Ostapenko vs Yanina Wickmayer
  • Carina Witthoeft - Tamira Paszek [Q]
  • Barbora Strycova - Kateryna Kozlova [Q]
  • [9] Monica Niculescu - Natalia Vikhlyantseva [WC]

Sibur Arena - not before 6:30 pm

  • [Q] Klara Koukalova - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [5]
  • Margarita Gasparyan vs Bojana Jovanovski

TC Dynamo - 12:00 pm

  • Alexandra Panova / Olga Savchuk - Valentyna Ivakhnenko / Lidziya Marozava
  • Xenia Knoll / Demi Schuurs - Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka [2]
  • Daria Kasatkina / Elena Vesnina vs Anastasia Bukhanko - Dominika Cibulkova [WC]
  • [Q] Katerina Siniakova - Timea Babos
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About the author
Liliana Martinez
Sports Journalist from Mexico City