Qualifiers Julieta Pareja and Raluka Serban both achieved significant victories in the opening round of the Copa Colsanitas Zurich on Tuesday.
American player Pareja, at just 16 years old, made history as the first player born in 2009 to participate in and win a WTA main draw match. She defeated 16-year-old Colombian wild card Maria Jose Sanchez Uribe with a score of 6-1, 6-1. This was both players` debut in a WTA main draw, and the first time two under-17 players faced off in a WTA main draw since 2009 in Prague.
Pareja, currently ranked No. 550, is also the highest-ranked player born in 2009 in the PIF WTA Rankings. Last year, she reached the final qualifying round of the US Open as a wild card and won her first ITF title at the Rancho Santa Fe W15.
This week in Bogota, Pareja qualified by defeating Carol Zhao and Eva Vedder in straight sets. Her next opponent is lucky loser Patricia Maria Tig, who defeated No. 4 seed Emiliana Arango. If Pareja wins against Tig, she will become the youngest WTA quarterfinalist since 2021.
Earlier in the day, Serban, ranked No. 204, became the first player from Cyprus to win a WTA tour-level match. The 27-year-old defeated Nuria Parrizas Diaz 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in her third WTA main draw appearance. Serban`s best Grand Slam performance was reaching the final qualifying round at Roland Garros last year.
Serban, whose highest ranking was No. 152 in 2023, is the only Cypriot player to have reached the Top 300 and one of only two currently ranked by the WTA. Next, she will compete against No. 1 seed Marie Bouzkova.
Pareja and Serban were not the only players to achieve milestones in their Bogota openers. Hanna Chang, ranked No. 194, celebrated her first WTA main draw win, defeating Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an all-American match.
Defending champion and No. 2 seed Camila Osorio progressed with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over wild card Mariana Isabel Higuita Barraza. Additionally, two-time Bogota champion Tatjana Maria, seeded No. 6, won a lengthy match against Chloe Paquet 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4.
17-year-old Iva Jovic became the second American teenager to reach the second round, upsetting No. 3 seed Alycia Parks 6-1, 6-4. Jovic maintains a perfect record in first-round matches at the tour level. Her next match is against Julia Riera.
Jasper Hawthorne 
Dominic Ashworth