Baku Cup: Mariya Koryttseva Ousts Elena Baltacha

World No. 165 Mariya Koryttseva upset the only seeded player to play at the Baku Cup on Monday, who is almost a hundred spots above her.

The Ukrainian won the match 6-1, 7-5 in an hour and 45 minutes at the first hard-court tournament of the summer.

This is not the first time Koryttseva has upset Elena Baltacha. She outplayed the top British player last year in Moscow in the Round of 16 on the indoor hard courts, when the Ipswich native was the No.1 seed at the tournament.

Koryttseva was able to push for 13 breaks of service and converted six game points in her favor. Despite being broken for her first two games of the second set and at 2-4, she dropped just one more game to end up taking the match.

Kazakstani Galina Voskoboeva went for a double-bagel win against Sofia Shapatava 6-0, 6-0 for the first time.

The World No. 162 was able to capitalize on her first serve, winning 80 percent of those points. 

The match ended in less than an hour and 54 minutes. Voskoboeva commented to the WTA, “I played pretty quick, and it was not that tough, which is good for me with the hot weather conditions here. Still, even in a 60-60 match, it's not that easy to keep your concentration the whole time."

21-year-old Vesna Dolonts defeated World No. 126 Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-3. 

The two had not played since 2007, when Bondarenko was ranked higher and won the match in straight sets. No. 91 in the world, Dolonts made it to the quarterfinals in Bastad and has since risen to a career-high ranking.

The Russian Dolonts saved eight break-point opportunities while converting five of her own. She took advantage with a strong first serve and put pressure with a consistent return game.

Tomorrow, Vera Zvonareva, the top seed in the tournament and World No. 3, will take to the court for the first time since she was not able to make it to finals of Wimbledon.

She will be joined by second-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to fight for the $220,000 purse.