The wild card player from Mainz wins her first main round match on the tour in almost three years.
Wild card player Nastasja Schunk (Mainz) caused the first major upset at the WTA tournament in Hamburg by reaching the round of 16.
The left-hander, ranked 288th in the world, won her first match in the main draw of a WTA competition in almost three years, defeating sixth seed Moyuka Uchijima of Japan, who is ranked 215 places higher, 7-5, 6-3.
In the round of 16, the 21-year-old will face either Alexandra Krunic of Serbia or Dalma Galfi of Hungary.
Schunk surprises her opponent
Schunk, who had not made it out of qualifying on the tour since her second-round match at the WTA tournament in Iasi, Romania, in August 2022, or had played in lower-level tournaments, clearly surprised her opponent with her resistance.
Both players managed several breaks before Schunk took the first set to take the lead. Uchijima then struggled to get back into the match, and Schunk converted her third match point after a total of 106 minutes.