There was a big surprise at the clay tournament EMPIRE Slovak Open 2016 in Trnava with total prize money of 100 000 USD. WTA No. 621 Lenka Jurikova surprised everyone in the first round after advancing from the qualification, eliminating American Louisa CHirico 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Chirico was the big favourite of the match against Jurikova, as she reached the semi-final of WTA Premier Tournament in Madrid last week, where she lost to another Slovak Cibulkova. On Monday, American player moved up to No. 76 in the WTA rankings. Jurikova, however was not nervous at all. “I was very confident before the game, I had nothing to lose. I’m happy I won. She had problems with backhand, so I tried to play more into her backhand. My first serve was also good, it was very important,” said Jurikova, who did not ask for advice from Cibulkova. “I watched some YouTube videos with my coach and boyfriend Michal Milko, regarding tactics. I used it a bit.”
In Round 2, she played 24-years old Czech Kristyna Pliskova, number 5 seed, losing in two sets 4-6, 2-6. She receives 19 points into the WTA rankings for 2nd round in Trnava and 1520 USD. Moreover, she moved up to No. 510 in singles ranking.
Lenka JURIKOVA (SVK)
1QR: Lidziya MAROZAVA (BLR) 6-4 6-2
2QR: Sandra JAMRICHOVA (SVK) 3-6 6-1 6-1
QFinal: Arantxa RUS (NED) [1] 3-6 7-6(5) 6-3
R1: Louisa CHIRICO (USA) 3-6 6-2 6-2
R2: Kristyna PLISKOVA (CZE) [5]  4-6 2-6