The latest Iași Open 2026 news — a daily update from every day of play: results, upsets, and the storylines that shaped the day. Newest first.
Monday's Iași Open final lasted 14 games. Mayar Sherif led 6-4 4-0 when Paula Badosa retired, the WTA No. 109 having broken five times from seven chances and won 52 of 86 points, while the WTA No. 141 held two of seven service games and took just 9 of 24 points behind her first serve.
Badosa had been the week's story, arriving in the final on a four-match win streak that ran through three tiebreaks, including a 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) semifinal over Tamara Zidansek and a 7-6(5) 1-6 6-4 three-setter past Alevtina Ibragimova; Monday she won four games and couldn't finish. The streak stops at four, and the trophy is Sherif's first title on record — the new high point of a résumé that previously peaked with a 2023 Madrid Open quarterfinal.
Down a set and 4-5 in the second, Tamara Zidansek serving for a place in the Iași Open final, Paula Badosa broke in game 10 for 5-5. The WTA No. 141's 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) win ran 2 hours, 35 minutes, its decider carrying eight breaks of serve before she ran off the tiebreak 7-1. Zidansek went 4-for-4 on break points in that third set and still lost it; Badosa, 0-for-5 in the opener, converted 8 of 19 thereafter.
In Saturday's other semifinal, Mayar Sherif beat No. 3 seed Oleksandra Oliynykova, the draw's last seed and its highest rank at WTA No. 53, 6-3 6-1 in 87 minutes, breaking five times from ten chances while winning all nine of her second-serve points. The final now pairs the WTA No. 109 against Badosa, 32 spots below her, with no prior meetings on record; either way, the champion comes from outside the top 100.
Friday's quarterfinals cleared the last top-50 player from the Iași Open draw. No. 2 seed Petra Marcinko, the WTA No. 47, lost 6-3 7-5 to WTA No. 131 Tamara Zidansek, and unseeded Paula Badosa beat No. 5 seed Panna Udvardy 6-4 7-6(2). The only seed to force a decider was No. 9 Yulia Putintseva, who kept Mayar Sherif on court 3 hours, 8 minutes before falling 6-2 3-6 7-6(5); the WTA No. 109 broke for 6-5 in game 11 of the third, was broken back for 6-6 in game 12, and took the tiebreak.
One seed survived. No. 3 Oleksandra Oliynykova ended the week of wild card Clara Burel, the WTA No. 702, 6-4 7-5, and meets Sherif in one semifinal, with Badosa facing Zidansek in the other. Unless the third seed wins twice more, the champion will be ranked outside the WTA top 100.
Both seeds in Thursday's action advanced at the Iași Open; the scare belonged to Paula Badosa. Down 4-1 in the third set to qualifier Alevtina Ibragimova, ranked 130 places below her, the WTA No. 141 took the last five games of a 7-6(5) 1-6 6-4 win, the closing break landing in game 10 after Ibragimova saved three match points. The 2-hour, 42-minute rescue was hardly tidy, as Badosa converted 6 of 28 break points, none of nine in the second set.
Elsewhere, form held. No. 3 seed Oleksandra Oliynykova conceded three games in 77 minutes to qualifier Elena Pridankina, No. 5 seed Panna Udvardy posted a 1-6 7-5 6-2 turnaround against Katarzyna Kawa, and Mayar Sherif held off Kaitlin Quevedo 6-3 7-6(2). The quarterfinal lines are drawn: Clara Burel gets Oliynykova, No. 9 seed Yulia Putintseva meets Sherif, and Thursday's two three-set winners collide when Badosa faces Udvardy.
Playing her third match of 2026, WTA No. 702 Clara Burel needed 63 minutes to remove No. 8 seed Elsa Jacquemot from the Iași Open draw, a 6-1 6-1 built on breaks in all seven Jacquemot service games and 57 of 87 points won; the two games she conceded came on her own serve. Monday's 2-6 7-5 6-3 recovery past Varvara Lepchenko was her first win since September 2024. The encore was tidier.
The day's other upset ran 3 hours, 29 minutes: No. 131 Tamara Zidansek outlasted No. 7 seed Anna Bondar 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5, in which Bondar saved two match points. Elsewhere, No. 9 Yulia Putintseva beat Alina Charaeva 6-3 6-3, while No. 2 Petra Marcinko needed two tiebreaks to get past No. 211 Elina Avanesyan. Half the quarterfinal field is set, and the No. 2 seed is the only member of it ranked inside the top 80.
Two seeds fell on Day 2 at the Iași Open, the higher one to the field's biggest name. Down at WTA No. 141 after six losses in her last eight — though that skid included a June win over Coco Gauff in Berlin — Paula Badosa beat No. 4 seed Anhelina Kalinina 6-3 6-1 in 87 minutes, breaking six times from 11 chances against a second serve that leaked eight double faults.
Two courts over, Kaitlin Quevedo handed No. 6 seed Elena Gabriela Ruse an identical 6-3 6-1 exit. The seeds otherwise held: No. 3 Oleksandra Oliynykova needed two tiebreaks to put away WTA No. 370 lucky loser Ipek Oz, while Yulia Putintseva, Panna Udvardy and Elsa Jacquemot dropped one set among them; three unseeded matches tipped to the lower-ranked player. That leaves a last 16 missing its No. 4 and No. 6 seeds, with unseeded Badosa the heaviest name left.
Two match points from defeat in just her second match since October 2024, Clara Burel — WTA No. 702, playing the Iași Open on a wild card — saved both and closed out a 2-6 7-5 6-3 win over lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko, her first victory since September 2024. The second set alone produced seven breaks of serve; in the decider Burel lifted her first-serve points won to 85% while Lepchenko's fell to 53.
Iași's other two wild cards ran into the seeds: No. 2 seed Petra Marcinko needed 2h08m and three sets, 6-2 3-6 6-4, to get past WTA No. 574 Nadia Podoroska, while No. 7 seed Anna Bondar beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5 6-4. Alina Charaeva conceded one game to Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, 6-0 6-1.