I was at Eastbourne for the first day of qualifying on Saturday. It was my first time back after the WTA tournament was downgraded from a 500 to 250 event in 2025 so the main draw entry list is not as strong as before. I didn’t really notice much difference for qualifying though which attracted eight players from the world’s top 75 with the world number 51, Oleksandra Oliynykova, the top seed. Read on for an account of my day with everything I saw on the match courts, practice courts and around the grounds at Devonshire Park.

Match notes 🎾

Ajla Tomljanovic d. Camila Osorio, 6-2 6-4 (QR1)

I joined this match in the second set after Tomljanovic had won the first set, 6-2. Tomljanovic was pretty solid and navigated the tight moments in her service games with confidence. Osorio saved a match point to force Tomljanovic to serve out the match which I thought would be the cue for the Osorio comeback because she is one of the biggest fighters on tour. Not to be – it was not Osorio’s day. Not much else to add other than a ball flying over from Court 2 which nearly took Osorio out. Camila laughed, as did the crowd.

Zeynep Sonmez d. Hanne Vandewinkel, 6-3 6-4 (QR1)

This was the best match that I watched in Eastbourne with some great points and quality tennis from both players. I hadn’t seen either player live and was particularly keen to see Sonmez who is having a great season. The match got off to a weird start with the umpire calling the score incorrectly on the first point. Vandewinkel noticed after the second point and said to the umpire that she won the first point. Sonmez was quick to validate this. Vandewinkel was serving huge in the first game and Sonmez did a face to say too good!

It was Sonmez though who shone in the first set. There must have been more than ten points that Sonmez won by coming into the net – there were so many cute dinky balls hit short and cross court for the winner. The guy in front of me was impressed and so was I! The obvious weakness for Sonmez is the serve. It wasn’t a problem in this match though as Sonmez maintained a reasonably high first serve percentage and Vandewinkel didn’t threaten much on return.

Vandewinkel was more aggressive in the second set and showed *her* touch with some gorgeous drop shots. There was less net play from Sonmez as the match wore on as she dominated from the baseline. Sonmez looks very comfortable on the grass and was hitting the ball beautifully. Vandewinkel had one break point in the second set where she missed a return. Otherwise, Sonmez never looked like relinquishing control of this match. The pair shared a nice moment at the net. I was very impressed with Sonmez and pleased to see that she qualified for the main draw.

Anastasia Zakharova d. Lilli Tagger, 6-4 5-7 7-6(7) (QR1)

Like the last match, I had never seen either player live – I ticked off a lot of new players on this trip to Eastbourne. I watched most of the first two sets, making the mistake to leave this match after the second set as it was the closest match of the day.

Zakharova is one of the most intense players that I have watched live. She swings her racquet rather menacingly after every point. Her game is rather one-dimensional but it kind of works on this surface as she kept hitting hard with the same intensity and depth, pushing Tagger back and on the defence. I love a one-handed backhand so Tagger was a fun watch live. However, the backhand was frequently exposed as Tagger struggled to put returns back into court off that wing.

Zakharova led 6-4 5-4 holding all of her service games up to that point… so it was inevitable that she was broken to love serving for the match 🙃. Perhaps a couple of forced errors but they were all errors from Zakharova. I was impressed with Tagger’s resolve as she broke Zakharova’s serve again to win the last three games of the second set and to force a decider.

In hindsight, I wish I stayed for the third set. You win some, you lose some. Tagger failed to convert three match points as Zakharova won nine points to seven in the third set tiebreak. Rather astonishingly, Zakharova won her second qualifying match by the exact same scoreline in the third set tiebreak, saving match points in both qualifying matches!

Sofia Johnson d. Oleksandra Oliynykova, 6-0 6-2 (QR1)

So I left Tagger-Zakharova to go watch Oliynykova live for the first time against the Brit, Sofia Johnson. In hindsight, it was a dreadful decision! I’ve been fascinated by Oliynykova’s quirky game and wanted to see how she would fare on grass. Based on this outing, it was a definitive answer – not good 😬.

Looking at the stats on Tennis Abstract, both players had only played one (!) match on grass in their entire careers – Johnson lost to Emily Webley-Smith in Surbiton in 2023 and Oliynykova lost to Diane Parry in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying last year. I knew nothing about Johnson, who is currently ranked at #587 in the rankings, and I was surprised how well she acquitted herself against Oliynykova’s unorthodox game.

Oliynykova hit a lot of moonballs and she lost practically every point with this tactic. The women behind me kept commenting “oh she likes this shot” and “here we go again” with the moonballs 😂. There was one underarm serve from Oliynykova in the second set which she did eventually win the point with. There was a coach with Oliynykova in the front row but there was very little communication between them. He offered the odd “come on Oliy” “and gave his first bit of advice in the second set which was to stay closer to the baseline.

After dropping her serve in the second set, Oliynykova had three immediate break back points at 0-40. She didn’t manage to break back and that was that. It was bad day at the office for Oliynykova – the serve was poor, lots of errors, drop shots into the bottom of the net and she did not look comfortable moving on the grass. Johnson closed out the match impressively and raised her arms in the air in celebration at securing the best win of her career.

Daria Snigur d. Sofia Kenin, 6-3 6-1 (QR1)

The best looking match-up on paper was next on the schedule for Court 2. It turned out to be another odd one although I half expected it having watched Kenin lose to Golubic in 49 minutes on this same court in Eastbourne a few years ago. I was sat next to Kenin’s dad which was an experience 😂. He was constantly raising and gesturing with his hands when Kenin kept missing first serves in the first game of the match. He had his head in his hands at one point. There was another guy in the box who was giving out positive encouragement. Kenin’s dad did say “good try” after one point that she lost. It didn’t sound convincing! Kenin didn’t engage at all with her box.

Snigur was good value for the first set apart from one poor service game with back-to-back double faults. She was asking for a lot of reassurance from her coach but settled down after that. Kenin’s first serve percentage tailed off again at the end of the set and she kept pulling the trigger too early in rallies. Snigur’s game is made for the grass and reminds me of Hsieh. I left after the first set and this was a good decision as Snigur won convincingly, 6-3 6-1. I hate to think how Kenin’s dad was in the second set…

Practice courts 🎾

Eastbourne is great for watching players practice. Peyton Stearns was warming up with her coach and striking the ball beautifully down-the-line. Love the forehand. Beatriz Haddad Maia and Sara Sorribes Tormo were practising on the next court and seemed to be playing points. Sorribes Tormo is in the doubles draw but Haddad Maia wasn’t in the singles or doubles draw unless I missed a withdrawal?

I watched Daria Kasatkina and Maya Joint, the last two champions at Eastbourne, practice together. Of course I was just there to try and get on the vlog – there was plenty of filming going on! The pair seemed very friendly with each other. Joint seemed to hit her leg with her racquet at one point and was wincing and hobbling around the court for a while. She went up to the net to show Kasatkina. I also got to see a Dasha tweener. Out of nowhere, the heavens opened and we had a heavy shower so everyone ran for cover. Even for Eastbourne, that was some weird weather.

Around the grounds 🌱

I saw the Maria family multiple times walking around Devonshire Park. Later in the afternoon, Tatjana Maria was practising on court with her daughter, Charlotte.

Jack Draper was signing autographs by Centre Court. Poor Jacky got wet as he was signing during the rain – what a trooper! I thought I spotted Draper from afar practising later in the day but it was actually Jack Pinnington Jones who also wears Vuori.

Other practices that I noticed but didn’t get to watch much of were Laura Siegemund and Caty McNally and McCartney Kessler and Tereza Valentova.

I thought I heard the oracle that was Ostapenko from afar so naturally picked up my pace but it was actually Elsa Jacquemot on the practice courts. From Instagram, it looked like Ostapenko was practising off-site on Saturday which was a shame.

Not around the grounds but I saw Lilli Tagger and Francesca Schaivone on two separate days walking along the seafront. Fran stopped in front of me to look into one of the fancy cars parked on the seafront. I like spotting players around Eastbourne pretending that I don’t know who they are 😂 .

Handshakes & Hugs 🤗

I’m all about the handshakes so here’s a few shots from Saturday – all nice and no drivebys!

Snap of the day 📸

Zakharova is fun to photograph.

Photos 📸

More photos from my day at Eastbourne qualifying can be found on the MTB Facebook page.

If you have any questions about Eastbourne then i’d be more than happy to help. Please leave a comment or e-mail MooTennisBlog@gmail.com