Palermo Open: Noha Akugue beats Barthel in battle of qualifiers

Germany’s Noma Noha Akugue reached the second round of the Palermo Open by winning against fellow qualifier Mona Barthel 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 at A.S.D. Country Time Club on Monday.

Noha Akugue, ranked No 197, will face second seed Karolina Muchova next.

Palermo WTA 250, other first-round matches (A.S.D. Country Time Club, clay, USD 267,082):

• Jil Teichmann (Q) beat Mia Ristic (Q): 6-1, 6-1
• Astra Sharma beat Anna Blinkova (6): 6-0, 7-5
• Lucia Bronzetti vs. Elsa Jacquemot
• Erika Andreeva vs. Darja Semenistaja
• Julia Riera vs. Jaqueline Cristian
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Sara Errani
• Ann Li vs. Peyton Stearns
• Emiliana Arango vs. Petra Martic
• Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Mayar Sherif
• Diane Parry vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Arantxa Rus vs. Martina Trevisan
• Maria Lourdes Carle vs. Tatjana Maria
• Chloe Paquet vs. Saisai Zheng
• Irina-Camelia Begu vs. Marina Bassols Ribera
• Katarzyna Kawa vs. Karolina Muchova