Katarzyna Kawa Ends Winless Run with Three-Set Victory and Advances in Antalya
katarzyna kawa defeated Mayar Sherif 6: 3, 1: 6, 6: 2 to move into the second round of the WTA 125 Megasaray Hotels Open in Antalya, securing her first singles victory since 29 October. The result matters because it halts a prolonged sequence of losses and keeps her in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Katarzyna Kawa beats Mayar Sherif in three sets
Kawa, ranked 146 in the WTA standings, opened strongly on the clay courts in Antalya by breaking serve four times in the first set to take it 6: 3. Sherif, ranked 104 and seeded fifth, responded decisively in the second set, turning the match around with a 6: 1 set. The deciding set featured repeated service breaks for both players, but Kawa converted the crucial opportunities to close out the match 6: 2. The contest finished in just under two hours.
Match dynamics drove the outcome: Kawa’s aggressive returns and early breaks established a lead that Sherif could only temporarily erase in the second set; in the third, Kawa’s capacity to seize break points at key moments produced the margin she needed to prevail. For katarzyna kawa, the victory also represents her first singles success of the season and her first tour-level singles win since 29 October.
As a result of the win, Kawa advances to face the winner of the match between Ipek Oz and Katarina Zawacka for a place in the quarterfinals. The tournament in Antalya is staged as a WTA 125 event—the Megasaray Hotels Open 2026—on clay with a total prize pool of $115, 000, and the draw places several higher- and lower-ranked players on a collision course in the second round.
Maja Chwalińska advances and sets up second-round meeting with Despina Papamichail
Maja Chwalińska, ranked 134, also moved into the second round after a straight-sets win. She needed one hour and 27 minutes to beat Adelina Lachinova 6: 1, 6: 3 on the Turkish clay. As the seventh seed, Chwalińska will face Despina Papamichail next in a scheduled second-round encounter.
The draw now lists the second-round pairings, including Kawa matched with Oz should the Turkish player win her match outright. Oz reached the second round after a convincing 6: 0, 6: 1 victory in her opening match, while other seeded players and qualifiers filled out the section of the draw that could determine Kawa’s path to the final eight.
What makes this notable is the timing matters because the victory arrived at a juncture when Kawa had been unable to convert opportunities in recent tournaments; securing a first singles win since late October not only halts that negative sequence but also restores tournament momentum as she prepares for a potentially pivotal second-round match.
The Antalya event has produced a mix of expected and surprising results in its first round: several seeds advanced, while the clay conditions have contributed to frequent service breaks across matches. The next rounds will show whether Kawa can build on this three-set triumph and translate it into a deeper run at the WTA 125 Megasaray Hotels Open.
