TENNIS WTA DUBAI – On a day of surprises at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships two of the top-4 seeds Ana Ivanovic and Petra Kvitova were knocked out of the tournament. Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska were also beaten. Among the top favourites to advance to the quarter finals there were Simona Halep, who recovered from 2-4 down in the first set to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 6-3, and Ekaterina Makarova, who beat Zarina Diyas 6-3 6-4 Diego Sampaolo
It was a day of big upsets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships where five of the top-eight seeds Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber were all knocked out the tournament. The only player among the title favourites who got through to the quarter final was last year’s Roland Garros finalist Simona Halep who beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 6-3. Pironkova went up 4-2 in the first set but Halep bounced back winning 10 of the next 13 games to clinch the win in straight sets.
The biggest shock came from last week’s Antwerp runner-up Carla Suarez Navarro who battled past twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova with 6-3 4-6 6-3. Suarez Navarro showed that she has fully recovered from the neck injury which sidelined her from the Antwerp final.
Karolina Pliskova, semifinalist in Antwerp last week, overcame Ana Ivanovic in three sets with 6-2 4-6 6-4. Spanish rising star Garbine Muguruza broke serve five times to beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-2.
“When you are not playing your best tennis, it’s hard to compete with these kind of players. I didn’t serve well enough. I think I didn’t serve well enough to win the match”, said Radwanska.
Lucie Safarova upset three-time Dubai champion Venus Williams with 6-4 6-2 breaking Venus’ 16-match winning streak. Safarova converted on four of her six break point chances (twice in each set). Safarova opened up a 2-0 lead. Williams recovered clawing her way back into the match but Safarova saved three break points before closing out the first set on the tenth game with 6-4.
“She played awesome. There were a couple of games that I didn’t get my racquet on the ball”, said Venus Williams.
Ekaterina Makarova, who reached two back-to-back Grand Slam semifinals at the 2014 US Open and at the 2015 Australian Open, beat Zarina Diyas 6-3 6-4.
Italian Flavia Pennetta, last year’s Indian Wells champion, edged Angelique Kerber 6-2 3-6 6-1. Pennetta could not convert on six break point chances during a very long fifth game featuring 26 points before clinching the first set with 6-2. The Italian broke serve at the start of the second set but Kerber bounced back reeling off 8 straight points and broke back to take the 2-1 lead. Kerber turned around the match dropping just one point on her four serves and got a double break in the sixth game.
Pennetta recovered holding serve in the first game of the decider and earned a break point in the second game. Kerber saved it but Pennetta cruised to a easy 6-1 to reach the quarter final for the second consecutive year in Dubai.
