Bulgarian Tandem Reaches Quarterfinals of W50 Tournament in Pazardzhik

Rafaela Simeonova and Angelina Kostova qualified for the doubles quarterfinals at the strong international women’s tournament of category W50 in Pazardzhik, with a prize fund of $40,000. The competition is held under excellent conditions and good organization at the Favorit Tennis Club base.

In a dramatic and entirely Bulgarian clash, Rafaela Simeonova and Angelina Kostova defeated sisters Denislava and Andrea Glushkova 6:1, 3:6, 17:15 after exactly 100 minutes on court.

In the first round of doubles Melis Rasim and Beatriz Spasova lost 2:6, 1:6 to the duo Amelia Pashun (Poland) / Amaris Kiara Tot (Hungary).

Tomorrow three Bulgarian women will continue their participation in first-round doubles matches. Lya Karatancheva and Gabriela Vilar (USA) will face Stefania Boytsa (Romania) and Dariya Kucher (Poland), while Lidia Encheva and Iva Ivanova will play against third seeds Julia Adams (USA) and Merel Houdt (Netherlands).

Melis Rasim lost in the second round of qualifiers 2:6, 3:6 to Neli Taraba Walberg (Sweden).

Two Bulgarian players receiving wild cards were eliminated in the first round of the main draw. Alexandra Rangelova played a strong match but lost 4:6, 4:6 to the second seed Kaya Heneman (Sweden) after 96 minutes on court. Nikol Nuneva fell 1:6, 1:6 to No. 6 Liza Zaars (Sweden) after 72 minutes of play.

Tomorrow all Bulgarian national players who earlier in the year won promotion to Group I of the Billie Jean King Cup World Team Championship will resume competition. The country’s top female player Elizara Yaneva heads the lineup and in the first round will play against Sara van Emster (Netherlands).

Rositsa Dencheva, today’s clay-court tournament champion from the WTA 125 series in Antalya, Turkey, is seeded No. 5 and starts against Julia Adams (USA). Two national players will appear in the first round against each other – the seventh seed Lidia Encheva and Denislava Glushkova. Lya Karatancheva and Iva Ivanova qualified for the main draw by ranking, with Karatancheva seeded No. 8 and will play against Jule Nimaier (Germany), while Iva Ivanova starts against a qualifier. Wild card participant Aleksa Karatancheva will face Ipek Yoz (Turkey).

Source: Telenews