Jasmine Paolini and Emma Navarro breezed into the 2nd round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Tuesday evening, quickly picking up wins at the WTA 500 indoor-clay event in Stuttgart, Germany.
I’ve had a lot of long matches this year, and a lot of three-sets. To get it done a little bit quicker feels good. Proud of my form… It’s my first tournament on red clay this year, so I’m leaning into it, and having some fun out here.
Emma Navarro
Paolini, the No 5 seed, needed only 64 minutes to dismiss German wild-card Eva Lys, 6-2 6-1, in the first match of the night session, moving the Italian one step closer to matching her quarter-final run here last year.
Lys, the World No 68, came into Stuttgart as the German No 1 for the first time in her career, but her new status could only get her so far, as Paolini dominated in return games on Day 2.
“[Lys] is such a nice girl, and I’m sorry [to] you guys,” Paolini apologised in her on-court interview to the German crowd, who responded with warm applause. “I have to do my job, as better as I can!”
Paolini won a whopping 73% of points returning the German’s first serve, and the Italian was rewarded with a 6-for-8 break point conversion success rate. She also improved to 2-0 against Lys, winning all 4-0 sets.
The World No 6 will take on another German wild-card when she meets Jule Niemeier in the 2nd round, who needed 3 hours and 12 minutes to defeat former champion Laura Siegemund, 4-6 6-3 6-4, after coming from 1-4 down in the decider.
Paolini leads 2-0 in her head-to-head against Niemeier, with both of those wins coming in 2022.
Emma Navarro, seeded 7, was an easy winner over Beatriz Haddad Maia in Stuttgart, also on Tuesday night
Later in the evening, 7th-seeded American, Navarro, made a spectacular Stuttgart debut when she swept aside Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-3 6-0, in 76 minutes.
In a contest between two Top 20 players, Navarro fired 24 winners to Haddad Maia’s 8, and converted 4 of her 9 break points, without dropping her serve.
“I’ve had a lot of long matches this year, and a lot of three-sets,” Navarro said afterwards. “To get it done a little bit quicker feels good. Proud of my form… It’s my first tournament on red clay this year, so I’m leaning into it, and having some fun out here.”
Navarro had lost to Haddad Maia twice on the clay last year, but it was a complete turn-around on Tuesday, when the World No 11 stayed alive in her quest for her 2nd WTA 500 title of the year, having hoisted the Mérida trophy on hard court in March.
Haddad Maia made a promising start, holding serve up until 3-3 in the first set, but she failed to convert 3 break-point opportunities, and the American capitalised by breaking the Brazilian’s serve in the 8th game to take a 5-3 lead, after which Navarro confidently served out the set.
The momentum shifted dramatically at the start of the second, as Haddad Maia visibly struggled, unable to find her rhythm and dominated by Navarro, who won all 6 games in the set.
The American’s aggressive play was highlighted by her impressive 14 winners in the first set, compared to Haddad Maia’s 8, and, additionally, Navarro committed only 8 unforced errors, while Haddad Maia struggled with 12.
“I think I served well today, and I’m very happy with the match I played,” Navarro said in her on-court interview after the match.
Unfortunately for Haddad Maia, she has now lost 9 straight matches since she claimed a spot in the 3rd round of the 2025 Australian Open, and her current form has raised concerns among fans and analysts.
“The mindset is to try to be strong, to try to be myself,” the Brazilian reflected on her recent struggles. “Control the things I can control, and not think about what I can’t control.”
Navarro next will face a former Grand Slam champion in round 2, when she has her first career meeting with 2017 Roland Garros victor Jelena Ostapenko, from Latvia.
Ostapenko advanced when her 1st-round opponent, Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska retired from their match with the score standing at 6-3 3-0 in favour of the Latvian.
Jana Fett came out the winner of an all-Croatian affair against Donna Vekic to reach round 2 in Stuttgart
Meanwhile, in an all-Croatian affair, Jana Fett upset Donna Vekic, 7-6(2) 6-4.
Seven years after her first Top 20 win over Kristina Mladenovic in the 1st round of Tokyo 2017, Fett notched her second, defeating Vekic in a first-time encounter between the 28-year-old Croatians.
Fett, a wild-card entry into the draw, came back from 1-4 down in the first set, and held off a late charge by Vekic from 1-5 in the second, to set up a 2nd-round meeting with the World No 2, Iga Swiatek, on Wednesday.
In an all-Russian clash, Ekaterina Alexandrova improved to 3-1 overall against Liudmila Samsonova with a 6-3 6-3 win in what was their first clay-court meeting.
Mirra Andreeva (L) and Erika Andreeva, seen here playing doubles together in Madrid last year, will meet in the singles main draw in Stuttgart on Wednesday
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Mirra Andreeva, the 17-year-old Russian who is seeded 6th, is set to play her older sister, Erika Andreeva, who made it into the draw as a lucky loser late on Tuesday when Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk pulled out due to injury.
20-year old Erika, who is ranked at 97 in the world, tried to reach the Stuttgart main draw through qualifying but failed to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Q2.
The sisters will play on Wednesday in what will be their second meeting at pro level, and while Mirra was favoured in their Wuhan match last autumn, it was Erika who claimed a 6-3 6-1 in their lone battle on the WTA Tour.
“Yeah, I know that there is a chance that I might play my sister again,” Mirra said. “But we’re going to take it professionally because we don’t have any other choice.
“If it’s going to be like this, then we’re just going to go on court and play as any other match. We’re going to face each other, and if it happens, probably it’s going to be a great and entertaining match.”
Also in action on Wednesday are the 2 top seeds, with Aryna Sabalenka opening against Anastasia Potapova, and Swiatek versus Fett.
