Zhibek Kulambayeva advances to quarterfinals of WTA-250 Hamburg tournament

Kazakhstan's top-ranked doubles player Zhibek Kulambayeva (world No. 136) got off to a winning start at the Hamburg Open. Partnering Latvia's Darya Semenistaya (No. 204), the Almaty native defeated the German duo of Tamara Korpatsch (No. 165) and Noma Noha Akugue (No. 270) 6-3, 6-3, reports infohub.kz.

The 26-year-old Kulambayeva continues to impress. Last week, she reached the final of the WTA-250 event in Iași alongside former Russian Alina Charaeva, now representing Armenia, before falling to the Czech-Russian pair of Anastasia Dețiuc and Irina Khromacheva on a championship tiebreak (6-4, 2-6, 5-10).

Moving from Romania to Germany and switching partners, the Kazakhstani made a strong start at the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open. The Kazakh-Latvian duo dominated the first set from the outset, racing to a 3-0, 5-1 lead. In the eighth game, the Germans recovered one break but could not hold to level — 3-6.

In the fourth game of the second set, Kulambayeva and Semenistaya broke the serve of German-born Noma Noha Akugue to go up 3-1. In the next game, on Semenistaya's serve at 40-40, Kulambayeva fired a powerful volley to confirm the break — 4-1.

The Almaty-Riga pair squandered three hidden match points in the sixth game, allowing their opponents to fight back from 40-0 down. Yet when real match points arrived, Kulambayeva and her partner confidently closed out the match. 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour 15 minutes. Total points won: 58-45.

In the quarterfinals, Kulambayeva and Semenistaya will face another all-Czech duo. Second seeds Jessica Malečková (No. 54) and Miriam Škoch (No. 53) advanced past Romania's Irina Bara (No. 192) and Switzerland's Naïma Karamoko (No. 95) 2-6, 6-0, 10-3.

Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva (No. 79) will take on Armenia's Elina Avanesyan (No. 208) later today for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The MSC Hamburg Ladies Open, a clay-court tournament, has existed in its current form since 1982. It is a WTA-250 event with a prize fund of $283,500.

Steffi Graf won the tournament six times, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario three. Martina Hingis and Venus Williams each claimed two titles. Winners in doubles include Almaty's Elena Likhovtseva, Martina Navratilova, Anna Kournikova, Jana Novotná, and Mary Pierce. In 2023, the duo of Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) and Alexandra Panova (Russia) triumphed.