Marcinko advances at Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge

Croatian teenager Petra Marcinko continued where she left from last weekend with a smooth 6-4, 6-1 win against 2018 runner-up Viktoria Hruncakova even as the competition lost top seed Dalma Galfi to injury while trailing qualifier Tereza Martincova on the second day of the 28th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, on Tuesday.

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Marcinko, who turns 20 on Dec. 4, ensured that she should be the one to be watched this week after she tackled her experienced Slovakian opponent while winning in straight sets in 75 minutes on court No. I.

Also bowing out of the competition was Kristina Mladenovic, the former world number one in doubles, as the Frenchwoman went down in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to Alevtina Ibragimova in just 73 minutes, while the sensational 16-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Valentina Ryser in a battle between two qualifiers.

Winner of the girls' singles crown at the 2024 US Open, Stojsavljevic will now meet third seed Sinja Kraus of Austria, while Ibragimova will take on sixth seed Linda Fruhvirtova, on Wednesday.