Avanesyan beats Ostapenko, continues to make history for Armenia in Cincy

Elina Avanesyan’s 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Bianca Andreescu in the first round of the Cincinnati Open wasn’t just a continuation of the 21-year-old’s own stellar season. It was a history-making moment for Armenia as Avanesyan became the first player representing the country to compete in a Hologic WTA Tour main draw.

Avanesyan continued her success in Cincinnati on Thursday by defeating No.8 seed Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round. The win is her fourth Top 20 win of the season and first since knocking out Zheng Qinwen at Roland Garros.

Cincinnati: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

Last week, the World No.60 started competing under the Armenian flag, announcing on social media: “I am proud to share that I am officially a citizen of Armenia, and I am honored to be competing under my Armenian flag starting at the Cincinnati Open on Monday! Excited for this new chapter and to bring success to my ancestral homeland.”

Avanesyan was born in Pyatigorsk, Russia to Armenian parents from Nagorno-Karabakh who moved from the disputed region in 1992, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Avanesyan’s switch made her the first player representing Armenia to be ranked inside the Top 100. The last Armenian to be ranked in the Top 500 was Ani Amiraghyan, who peaked at No.422 in August 2013. The only other Armenian player to reach the Top 100 on either tour was former ATP No.38 Sargis Sargsian, who reached his career high in January 2004.

On Sunday, Avanesyan’s defeat of Lauren Davis in the first round of Cincinnati qualifying made her the first Armenian player to compete in a WTA qualifying draw since Liudmila Nikoyan at Pattaya City 2002, and the first to win a qualifying match since Nikoyan at Tashkent 2000. Nikoyan’s highest ranking was No.500 in October 2000.

Back in 1989, Aida Khalatian also competed in the Moscow main draw, falling in the first round to Natasha Zvereva. Khalatian would represent Armenia following the country’s independence in 1991, but at the time of her sole tour-level appearance played under the flag of the former Soviet Union.

Despite Armenia’s minimal official WTA history, the country does have a connection to one of the game’s greats. Former World No.1 Serena Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, has Armenian heritage. Like Avanesyan, Ohanian is the descendant of Armenians who fled the country during a time of war: his paternal grandparents emigrated to the United States as refugees of the Armenian genocide during World War I.

This decade has also seen four other countries represented for the first time at WTA level: Andorra (Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva at Madrid 2021), the Philippines (Alexandra Eala at Cluj-Napoca 2021), Burundi (Sada Nahimana at Rabat 2023) and Malta (Francesca Curmi at Palermo 2023).

This year has also seen Avanesyan reach her first WTA final last month in Iasi, where she fell to Mirra Andreeva in the title match. She returned to the fourth round of Roland Garros for a second straight year, and has also won three out of her three encounters with Top 10 players to date. Avanesyan upset Maria Sakkari at the Australian Open, Ons Jabeur in Miami and Zheng Qinwen at Roland Garros. In Cincinnati, she will take on No.8 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.