Young SA wild cards Chanel Simmonds and Nikala Scholtz downed seeds while unseeded Swede Filip Prpic knocked off another highly fancied player as the first round of the $200 000 Soweto Open men's and women's tournaments got under way at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre Monday.

South African Izak van der Merwe advanced to the second round. Fellow countryman Raven Klaasen suffered a heartbreaking defeat.

SIMMONDS SCALPS THIRD SEED ZAKOPALOVA

It was young Chanel Simmonds who started the trend when she stunned third seed Klara Zakopalova 6-1 3-6 7-5 in an outcome that reduced the talented Czech to tears at the end.

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