At the ITF clay tournament in Zagreb, Greet Minnen (WTA 129) lost a chance in the opening round on Tuesday afternoon to the Romanian Elena Gabriele Ruse (WTA 175) 6-3 and 6-1. The game lasted an hour and a half.
Our compatriot, the second seed in the Croatian capital, left no stone unturned and broke through Ruse’s service in both the third and fifth game, but she was unable to confirm the break twice. Ruse managed to keep her serve at 3-3 and subsequently took the service from Minnen for the third consecutive time in the game. That was enough to serve out to 6-3.
Minnen was unable to straighten their back in the second set and was soon owed a double break and 4-0. Ruse whirled on and crossed the line 6-1.
In the 1 / 8th finals, Ruse looks the winner of the Italian get-together between qualifying player Jessica Pieri (WTA 287) and Martina Di Giuseppe (WTA 215) in the eye. They make their appearance on Wednesday.
For Minnen it was her second clay tournament of the season. Two weeks ago she came into action in the Portuguese Oeiras, but also there she went somewhat surprisingly fast, in the second round against the Greek Despina Papamichail (WTA 270).
