Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, Elise Mertens, former world No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and Anna Kalinskaya were among the notable first-round winners at the Bad Homburg Open on Monday, while French Open semifinalist Diana Shnaider suffered a straight-sets defeat to Clara Tauson.
Bad Homburg: Scores | Order of play | Draws
Here are some key takeaways from the action in Bad Homburg today:
Osaka wins rain-delayed match; to face Mertens for spot in quarterfinals
In a match carried over from Sunday because of bad weather, former world No. 1 Osaka opened her bid for a first career grass-court final with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
The match was suspended with Osaka leading 5-4 in the opening set. When play resumed Monday, the Japanese player dominated, winning seven of the final eight games to seal the victory in 1 hour, 34 minutes.
A key statistic from the match was Frech winning just 21.4% of points on her second serve, compared with 60% for Osaka.
Osaka’s best grass-court result remains her semifinal run in Nottingham in 2018, where she lost to eventual champion Ash Barty. She will next face Elise Mertens for a place in the quarterfinals.
Mertens halted a red-hot Alexandra Eala later Monday, coming from a break drown in the first set and winning eight straight games across the first and second sets to advance with a 6-3, 6-3 win in 1 hour, 24 minutes. The victory extends the Belgian’s perfect record in WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz opening matches this season to 12-0.
Osaka and Mertens have squared off seven times, with Osaka holding a 4-3 advantage. Mertens won their most recent meeting in Toronto in 2024, but Osaka claimed their lone grass-court matchup at ‘s-Hertogenbosch earlier that year.
Tauson knocks out former champion Shnaider
In a marquee first-round clash between two Top 25 players, world No. 25 Clara Tauson upset the seventh-seeded Shnaider 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 45 minutes.
The Dane converted four of her 10 break-point opportunities, while Shnaider, the 2024 champion, capitalized on only two of six chances.
The victory marked Tauson’s first grass-court win of the season after opening-round exits in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Berlin. It also snapped a seven-match losing streak for the Dane. Shnaider, meanwhile, heads into Wimbledon having lost both of her opening-round matches on grass this year.
The win leveled the head-to-head series at 1-1. Tauson will next face Zheng in the second round.
Zheng earns three-set victory over Sierra
Serving as the precursor to the Venus Williams vs. Irina-Camelia Begu match on Centre Court, Zheng earned a morale-boosting win over Argentine qualifier Solana Sierra to reach the second round.
Now ranked No. 153 after undergoing elbow surgery last July and playing only one tournament before February this year, Zheng needed 2 hours, 23 minutes to overcome Sierra 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Tauson leads the head-to-head against Zheng 1-0, but this will be their first meeting on grass.
Kalinskaya, Wang also advance
In other first-round matches, Kalinskaya defeated Austrian qualifier Sinja Kraus 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round.
Kalinskaya will next face either fifth-seeded Linda Noskova, who won the Berlin Open on Sunday, or qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
China’s Xinyu Wang also advanced, defeating lucky loser Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-2. Wang will face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez for a place in the last eight.
