Georgian tennis players in winning form at ITF competitions

Two Georgian tennis players are progressing in separate international tournaments in Turkey after securing wins in their matches earlier this week.

Ranked number 224 in the world, Georgian tennis player Sofia Shapatava, 27, came into the International Tennis Federation (ITF) competition in Istanbul firing, an won her first round game 6-2, 6-1 against Turkey's Selin Ovunc on Tuesday.

Shapatava will face Bulgaria's Isabella Shinikova in her Last 16 round match later today in a bid to continue progressing through the final stages of the tournament and potentially earn a share of $50,000 prize money.

Shapatava, winner of the $15,000 ITF Lucknow tournament in India in 2014, was competing alongside players from Eastern and Western Europe at the Istanbul contest.

Young prospect Ana Shanidze will face Germany's Lisa-Marie Maetschke in a $10,000 ITF tournament today. Photo from www.itftennis.com.

Meanwhile in Turkey's resort town Antalya, up-and-coming tennis player Ana Shanidze, 14, won two qualifying rounds of the ITF $10,000 competition against local favourite Odul Okur with a comfortable score 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday.

Shanidze then went on to win her next qualifying match against Belgium's Eliessa Vanlangendonck 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 on Monday.

The two results saw the Georgian proceed to the main part of the competition, where she will face Germany's Lisa-Marie Maetschke in Round One today.