SUCCESSFUL START TO THE BERLIN TENNIS OPEN BY HYLO
Successful start to the BERLIN TENNIS OPEN by HYLO - draw brings great matches on the first days - German surprise in qualifying!
With twelve qualifying matches, the top-class BERLIN TENNIS OPEN by HYLO began on Saturday in Berlin. For the WTA 500 tournament at the LTTC “Rot-Weiß” Berlin tennis club, the pairings for the main draw, which starts on Monday, June 16, 2025, were also drawn.
German number 1 Eva Lys starts against Paula Badosa on Monday
After a strong opening, new highlights await the audience each day at Steffi Graf Stadium. Germany's top player, Eva Lys, who received a wild card, will enter the tournament on day one. She will face Spain’s Paula Badosa (WTA No. 9) in her opening match and sees the tough draw as a challenge: „Only by playing such strong opponents as Paula can I see where I stand.” On the same day, world No. 6 Mirra Andreeva will play Magdalena Frech (Poland), while Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) will face top-ten player Emma Navarro (USA, WTA No. 10).
Four Grand Slam champions at the start on tournament Tuesday
Tuesday will see former world number one and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka (Japan) take to the court. As a wild card holder, she will start her tournament on Tuesday against Liudmila Samsonova. Also on Tuesday, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) will face world No. 5 Qinwen Zheng (China, WTA No. 5), while Australian Open champion Madison Keys (USA, WTA No. 7) will take on Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic).
Top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will be in action on Wednesday and Thursday respectively
World number one Aryna Sabalenka and number four Jasmine Paolini (Italy) will start the tournament on Wednesday. Both received a first-round bye and were drawn to face a qualifier in the second round. Last year’s winner Jessica Pegula(USA, WTA No. 3) will also play her first match on Wednesday. She will face either Naomi Osaka or Liudmila Samsonova.
Newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff (USA, WTA No. 2) will play her first grass-court match of the year on Thursday. She will face the winner of the match between Daria Kasatkina (Australia) and a qualifier.
German qualifier Ella Seidel surprises in qualifying
As expected, the first twelve qualifying matches for the main draw of the Berlin Tennis Open by Hylo produced intense duels and surprising results on all three courts.
The first big surprise came from 20-year-old German Ella Seidel, who defeated last year's finalist and number one seed Anna Kalinskaya in three sets 4:6, 6:4, 7:6 (6). Seidel even fended off a match point in the tie-break of the final set. The next German qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam, on the other hand, was eliminated after losing two sets (3:6, 2:6) against Ashlyn Krueger (USA). Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova finished her match in commanding fashion with a 6:2, 6:3 victory over Mia Pohankova.
American Sofia Kenin, seeded No. 2 in qualifying, defeated Erika Andreeva in two sets 6:4, 6:4, while Polish substitute Katarzyna Kawa took her chance and beat Dalma Galfi (7:5, 6:4). The longest duel of the day, lasting two hours and 39 minutes, was won by Viktoriya Tomova with a victory over Priscilla Hon (5:7, 7:6 (4), 7:6 (6).
Another surprise was provided by Rebeka Masarova (Switzerland), the world number 114, who defeated the former world number three Maria Sakkari (Greece) in two sets 7:6, 7:5. The young Berlin wildcard Sonja Zhenikhova lost to Caroline Dolehide (USA) 6:7 (7), 6:2, 6:2 in three sets after a great fight in the first set.
Tickets for world-class tennis with Wimbledon flair are still available!
Tickets for the matches on Centre Court at Steffi Graf Stadium are still available. The tournament days Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are already sold out. However, for the top-class days Monday through Thursday, several price categories are still available.
All ticket offers can be found at www.berlintennisopen.com