WTA roundup: Mayar Sherif wins Iasi title after Paula Badosa retires

July 20 - Egypt's Mayar Sherif claimed her first title in nearly four years Monday after Spain's Paula Badosa retired in the final of the Iasi Open in Romania. In a match moved ​back from Sunday due to rain, Sherif was up 6-4, 4-0 when Badosa ‌was forced to bow out due to injury after 70 minutes. Sherif, 30, took control with a service break in the seventh game of the opening set and broke Badosa twice to open the second ​set. Sherif claimed her first WTA Tour-level trophy since winning the Parma Open in ​Italy -- also on clay -- in October 2022. Croatian sixth seed Antonia ⁠Ruzic made a quick exit, losing her opening-round match 7-6 (2), 6-4 to Dominika Salkova, who ​was playing in front of a friendly crowd in her native Czech Republic. Salkova won 52.2% ​of her return points while holding a narrow 5-4 edge in breaks. She survived a roller coaster of a match which saw her win the first four games but losing the next five. Czech No. 1 ​seed Marie Bouzkova and No. 8 seed Daria Snigur of Ukraine did not have the ​same trouble in their opening matches. Bouzkova beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain 7-5, 7-5, while Snigur ‌won ⁠a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 marathon against Germany's Ella Seidel. In unseeded action, Ayla Aksu of Turkey beat Belgium's Sofia Costoulas 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic triumphed against Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-4; Carol Young Suh Lee overcame Ukraine's Veronika Podrez 6-1, 5-7, 6-2; and ​France's Oceane Dodin swept ​Czech Alisa Oktiabreva ⁠6-3, 6-3. No. 2 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine swept Kaitlin Quevedo of Spain 7-5, 6-4 on the opening day of ​the tournament in Germany. It was a chaotic match, with 14 games ​won by ⁠the returning player and just eight won by the serving player. Kalinina, though, was more opportunistic, winning 8 of 17 break-point opportunities to overcome a no-ace performance with nine double faults. In other ⁠Day ​1 action, Anna Bondar of Hungary bested Japan's Moyuka ​Uchijima 7-5, 6-4 by winning 48.4% of her return points. German wild card Julia Stusek outlasted Argentina's Nadia Podoroska ​for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the most competitive match of the day. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab