Dubai: Angelique Kerber vs Monica Puig
Angelique Keber takes on Monica Puig in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Angelique Keber takes on Monica Puig in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – Fresh from shocking Kristina Mladenovic at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Wang Qiang confessed that WTA World No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska is her current tennis idol.
“Now Radwanska is my idol,” she admitted in her post-match press conference. “Yes, I really like she play tennis.”
Wang was speaking to the media after brushing aside the Frenchwoman in the third round, 6-1, 6-4, and she wondered whether her opponent’s heroics yesterday against Karolina Pliskova had taken their toll.
Another upset!
Wang moves past @KiKiMladenovic 6-1, 6-4 in @DDFTennis Round of 16! pic.twitter.com/Sku0NhnLmw
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
“I saw her play last night and she play really well against Pliskova,” said Wang. “Yes, today first set she miss so much, and I think she’s a little bit tired of last night, yes.”
Wang will now play either Anastasija Sevastova or Peng Shuai in the quarterfinals.
Elina Svitolina takes on Christina McHale in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – Lauren Davis secured a quarterfinal spot in her debut appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, staging an impressive comeback to beat Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
“I love playing here – it’s my first time here in an amazing city…just the atmosphere here is so great,” the delighted American said in her on-court interview.
“I’m really happy with my persistence, resilience and how I handled myself despite losing a few games in a row.”
Comeback queen! ?@LaurenDavis93 comes from a set behind to beat Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and reach @DDFTennis Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/EpCGOYoSFb
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
It was an inconsistent display from both players. Makarova made the initial breakthrough in a seesaw first set, but Davis was resurgent in the second, combining exquisite use of the forehand with grit to get herself back on level terms, as her opponent’s game utterly collapsed.
The Russian took an eight-minute bathroom break before the decider, but it did not help her regroup; she remained lackadaisical when it came to capitalising on break points in the final set.
The 23-year-old American took advantage, wrapping up the match in one hour and 57 minutes. Her reward will be a last-eight clash with either Christina McHale or Elina Svitolina.
CiCi Bellis takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Top seed Timea Babos kicks off her Hungarian Ladies Open campaign with a solid victory in front of her home crowd, knocking out Turkish wildcard Ipek Soylu in straight sets to move into the second round.
“I’m just happy to play here at home,” Babos enthused after the match. “It’s very special for me, it motivates me a lot – I’m very happy to have this first win.”
With the support of the vocal home fans, Babos powered her way to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Soylu, breaking her serve five times and needing just an hour and twenty minutes to advance.
“Already for the first round to have such a great crowd and such a big number of fans, it’s an amazing feeling. Hopefully this week I can continue that, and playing singles and doubles will bring out plenty of people.”
Besides being Babos’ first victory in Budapest since 2013, it’s also the Hungarian’s first main draw win of the year after a disappointing string of first-round losses stretching back to October 2016.
“It was not an easy season so far for me,” Babos reflected. “I started to play better at the St. Petersburg Ladies Open, but I played a lot of Top 30 players. I lost some tough three-setters.
“But then I had Fed Cup, which helped a lot. I played very, very consistent and I beat some Top 30 players and started to feel better.”
Also in action, No.8 seed Annika Beck had to fight against the home crowd on her way to the quarterfinals against Hungarian wildcard Fanny Stollar.
Yesterday, Stollar thrilled the local fans by notching her first ever WTA main draw victory against Danka Kovinic, but the No.282 was unable to back it up and fell to Beck, 6-2, 6-0.
“It was a very good match and she started off pretty well,” Beck said afterwards. “I backed off a bit at the start and fought my way through the games. I got on top of her and was able to finish it off, even with the score it was still a close match since the games were close.”
“It’s my first quarterfinal of the year, I’m just happy I can keep up the good results and have more success on the court.”
Joining Beck in the quarterfinals is No.2 seed Lucie Safarova, who needed just 56 minutes to sweep past Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-2, 6-1. The 2015 French Open finalist took an early lead in both sets, opening with a break in each to control the match and battle past the No.102 Taiwanese.
“It’s always nice to play the tournaments which are close to home so more friends and family can come,” Safarova said. “This week my coach’s family and little kids are here. Those are my friends! It’s nice and I’m enjoying it.”
Rounding out the quarterfinals are No.3 seed Julia Goerges, who defeated Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour, and Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who scored another upset to knock out No.6 seed Pauline Parmentier, 7-6(3), 6-4.
Check out Caroline Garcia’s trip to Green Planet at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – Kateryna Bondarenko is through to the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after No.5 seed Garbiñe Muguruza was forced to withdraw due to a left achilles injury while trailing 4-1 in the opening set.
“It’s good that I’m through, but it wasn’t really a win,” Bonadarenko said after the match. “She retired.”
Muguruza suffered a shock defeat last week Doha to Zhang Shuai, and looked to be struggling with her timing early on, double faulting to hand her opponent the immediate break.
At the first changeover, Muguruza called for the physio but opted not to take an injury timeout before being broken again.
“When I finished in Doha, because of the rain, a lot of people played two matches, including me,” Muguruza explained. “The second one was very tough, and I remember that as soon as I went, after the match, to my room, I started to have a pain in my left Achilles.
“The next morning was even more painful. I have been carried this since that day. And here, I have been training but on and off, honestly, because of the pain. Some days it was a little bit better, some days it was a little bit worse. It was just hard for me to serve, especially, and to just move side to side today on the court.
A lack of mobility clearly apparent, Muguruza decided that the best way back into the match was to hit her way out of trouble. But with the score at 4-1 in the first set, she decided that it wasn’t worth continuing.
“I can’t see anything right now. I have to do some kind of MRI.
“Personally, I don’t think it’s like something big, hopefully, but it’s very irritated and it’s really bothering me every time I have to run on the court.”
.@GarbiMuguruza retires in the opening set.
Kateryna Bondarenko advances to @DDFTennis Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/zVW98VFLPo
— WTA (@WTA) February 21, 2017
Muguruza’s retirement means that Bondarenko, who has never been past the second round, will now face either Viktorija Golubic or Caroline Wozniacki.
Click here to learn more about Muguruza’s injury courtesy of WTA Insider.
Going up! Watch as Angelique Kerber has a dining experience like no other at Dubai’s Dinner In The Sky.
Get to know rising Belgian star Elise Mertens in an interview at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.