Romanian tennis players Irina Begu and Gabriela Ruse secured places in the main singles draw of the WTA 500 tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, on Sunday. The tournament offers total prize money of 1,049,083 euros.

Begu (35, world No. 213) defeated France's Diane Parry (23, world No. 60) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in the final round of qualifying after nearly two hours of play (1 hr 57 min).

Begu, who struck six aces, now leads their head-to-head record 2-1 against Parry, who produced seven aces and seven double faults in Sunday's match.

Having also defeated Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 6-1, 6-4 in the opening qualifying round, Begu has guaranteed herself a cheque for 11,309 euros and 26 WTA ranking points. In the first round of the main draw, she will face American Venus Williams (46, world No. 462), who received a wildcard entry.

Gabriela Ruse (28, world No. 105) defeated American Taylor Townsend (30, world No. 81) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the final qualifying round after two hours of play.

Ruse, who overcame China's Zhang Shuai 6-4, 7-5 in the first qualifying round, now leads her head-to-head record against Townsend 2-0. She has also secured a cheque for 11,309 euros and 26 WTA ranking points. In the first round of the main draw, she will face Czech player Linda Noskova (21, world No. 13) for the first time. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Tenea; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)

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