Gabriela Ruse and Jacqueline Christian debuted with victories in the new competitive season, both athletes from Romania are competing in the first round of qualifying for the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland (New Zealand).

117th WTA, Gabriela Ruse defeated Alyona Bolsova (141 WTA) in two sets with the score 7-5, 6-4. The game lasted one hour and 51 minutes.

In another match of the day, Jacqueline Christian (146 WTA) beat Russian Diana Schneider (18 years old – 110 WTA) with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The match lasted two hours and 8 minutes.

For participation in the last round of qualification, Gabriela and Jacqueline will receive a check for $2,975 and 12 points in the WTA singles ranking.

In the final round, both will have opponents from Japan. Gabriela Ruse will face Moyuka Uchijima (107th in the world), and Jacqueline Christian will face Nao Hibino (138th WTA).

The Auckland competition (the “ASB Classic”) takes place from January 2 to 8 (main draw matches), is contested on hard courts, is part of the WTA 250 category and has a total prize fund of $259,303. The last champion (in 2020) was Serena Williams.