By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday June 17, 2019
Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan is figuring out her grass game. The Russian notched her biggest career win on Monday at Birmingham by taking out World No.7 Elina Svitolina 6-3 3-6 6-4 for just her second WTA-level win on the surface.
The 24-year-old World No.62 broke six times on 12 opportunities while playing with aggression throughout the match. She raced out to a 4-1 lead in the decider and never looked back, claiming her second Top 10 win in one hour and 58 minutes.
It has been a remarkable run for the Russian, who underwent three knee surgeries in the span of a year and returned to the tour last April outside the Top 1000.
Gasparyan, now just 2-3 lifetime on grass, will face either Petra Martic or Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round.
The fourth-seeded Svitolina wasn’t the only seed to fall on Monday. No.5-seeded Aryna Sabalenka dropped a three-setter to Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Tapei, 6-3 2-6 7-6(1).
The triumph was Hsieh’s fourth Top 10 win of the season.
Seventh-seeded Johanna Konta continued her run of fine form onto the grass. The Roland Garros semi-finalist defeated Anett Kontaveit 6-4 6-2. The British No.1 dropped just six first-serve points and saved two of the three break points she faced.