Serbian teenager Sabina Surjan caused the day's biggest upset in the women's singles event ©ITTF

Serbian teenager Sabina Surjan caused the day's biggest upset in the women's singles event as she overcame Romania's Adina Diaconu on the opening day of the European Table Tennis Championships in Alicante.

The 18-year-old, due to represent her country at next month's Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, beat the world number 118 7-11, 12-10, 14-12, 11-4, 11-4 at the Pabellón Pedro Ferrándiz.

The result saw Surjan make the ideal start to the group qualification phase and boosted her hopes of booking a place in the main draw.

It also enabled Surjan, ranked 470 in the world in the senior standings and number four in the junior list, to continue her form from the recent 2018 Europe Youth Top 10 earlier this month.

Matches in the qualification groups took place today ©ITTF
Matches in the qualification groups took place today ©ITTF

"Winning the junior girls’ singles event at the Europe Top 10 in Portugal has helped boost my confidence," she said.

"I was very relaxed and I even surprised myself with the victory over Adina."

In the same group, Portugal’s Shao Jieni, the only player in the qualification round who has an International Table Tennis Federation World Tour title to her name, beat Slovenia’s Aleksandra Vovk 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5.

Qualification continues tomorrow prior to the start of the main draw on Thursday (September 20).