Yulia Stamatova was eliminated at the start of the singles at the clay tennis tournament in Kuršumlijska Banja (Serbia) with a prize pool of 15 thousand dollars, BNR reported.
In a first-round match, Stamatova was eliminated by the fifth seed Gloria Ceschi (Italy) after 5:7, 4:4 and the Bulgarian woman's withdrawal in exactly two hours of play.
The Bulgarian tennis player made up for a deficit from 2:5 to 5:5 in the first half, but lost the next two games, and with it the set. Yulia Stamatova led 3:1 in the second set, Ceski tied it at 3:3. The left-handed player from Sofia led 4:3 after a break, but the Italian returned the break, and Stamatova subsequently had to retire.
Bulgaria's national player for the "Billie Jean King Cup" Denislava Glushkova has already qualified for the second round of singles in Kurshumliyska Banya. She will also play in the doubles quarterfinals together with Vladislava Andreevska from Kyrgyzstan.
Later today, Alexandra Mateva will play her first-round doubles matches in tandem with Poland's Letizia Matuszewski, as well as Melis Rasim and Beatriz Spasova.