Top seed Elina Svitolina was eliminated at the Tenerife Ladies Open on Wednesday by Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, despite leading by a set overnight on Tuesday when the match was suspended due to bad light, while other upsets abounded on Day 3 of action.
The truth is that I am very aware of my abilities on clay and grass, but was not thinking of such a prestigious victory on hard courts. Now I'm going to enjoy it but I already have to concentrate for the next game. Maria Camila Osorio Serrano
The Colombian came from a set down to advance to round two, 5-7 6-3 6-2, in an hour and 55 minutes.
Late the previous day, Svitolina had clinched a comeback of her own by overturning a 1-4 deficit to take the opener and, on Wednesday, the Ukrainian World No 7 went up an early break to lead her 19-year-old opponent 2-0, but Osorio Serrano bounced back to win 5 games in a row on her way to forcing a deciding set.
The Colombian then won the final 4 games of the contest to seal her comeback win.
“It was a great game, I can’t believe I managed to win,” Osorio Serrano said after her match. “Elina is a great fighter. I employed all resources that I had within myself to defeat her.
“The truth is that I am very aware of my abilities on clay and grass, but was not thinking of such a prestigious victory on hard courts.
“Now I’m going to enjoy it but I already have to concentrate for the next game.”
It was, in fact, Osorio Serrano’s first win over Top 10 player and the teenager had not got past the opening round in 5 of her past 6 tournaments but, on this occasion, she proved too good for Svitolina.
Ranked 63, she will take on Egypt’s World No 64 Mayar Sherif for a quarter-final spot.
Svitolina was one of 6 seed casualties in the first round of the WTA 250 event in Tenerife, where she joined 2nd-seeded Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia, Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, the No 3 seed, 5th-seeded Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland, China’s 6th seed Shuai Zhang and American Alison Riske, the 8th seed, on the sidelines.
The upshot is that that there are no seeded players left in the lower half of the draw, where American Ann Li defeated Russia’s Varvara Gracheva, 6-4 6-2, in an hour 21 minutes to reach the quarter-finals.
She will play qualifier Donna Vekic, who cruised past Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-4 6-1, in a match that also was suspended briefly because of lack of light with the Croatian leading 6-4, 1-1.
Meanwhile, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Slovakia ousted Begu’s compatriot, Jaqueline Cristian, in their second-round meeting, 6-2 7-5, in an hour 40 minutes, and she will now play Alizé Cornet for a place in the semi-finals after the Frenchwoman advanced following the retirement of China’s Xinyu Wang at 6-1 6-7(5), 4-1 Ret.
The top half quarter-final places will be determined on Thursday.