Press releases

14 Jul 2026

Belarusian players reach WTA-125 Istanbul last 16

Darya Khamutsianskaya

MINSK, 14 July (BelTA) – Two Belarusian players advanced to the second round of the Enka Open 2026: WTA 125 tournament in Istanbul, Türkiye, with a prize pool of $115,000, BelTA has learned.

In the round of 32, Darya Khamutsianskaya (No.314) needed just over an hour and a half to defeat Indonesia’s Priska Nugroho (No.379) in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Darya Khamutsianskaya will next face Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova (No.163). The Belarusian earned her place in the main draw through qualifying, where she defeated India’s Saumya Vig 6-0, 6-0 and China’s Ying Zhang 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Aliona Falei (No.230) came from a set down to beat China’s Yue Yuan (No.120) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in a match lasting three hours. In the round of 16, she will take on Kristina Penickova of the USA (No.893).

In the doubles opening round, Aliona Falei and Russia’s Polina Iatcenko defeated the American-Czech duo of Carol Young Suh Lee and Vendula Valdmannova in a tight three-set clash, 6-4, 2-6, 11-9.

Meanwhile, Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich (No.143) will begin her WTA-250 campaign in Athens, Greece, which features a prize pool of $283,000. She will face Russia’s Anna Blinkova (No.102) in the opening round. The match will be the sixth WTA meeting between the two players, with Aliaksandra Sasnovich having won all five previous encounters. The winner will play either Czech Tereza Valentova (No. 40) or Sofia Costoulas of Belgium (No. 157) in the round of 16.

The tournaments in Greece and Türkiye will wrap up on 19 July.