Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin survived a huge scare in Abu Dhabi on Friday after her opponent was forced to retire due to injuring her ankle.
The American top seed was far from her best as she trailed the match 5-7, 5-4, to veteran Belgian player Kirsten Flipkens until the match came to an unfortunate end. As the world No.86 served to level up in the second frame, a moonball from Kenin forced her to the back of the court to hit an overhead shot. However, in the process Flipkens landed her ankle on one of the advertising boards on the ground and subsequently rolled it. A medical time out followed but the ankle swollen instantly and she had to forfeit the match.
Flipkens’ misfortunes mean Kenin gets to live another day at the Middle Eastern tournament during what was a frustrating match for her. During the opening set she struggled with her serve and got broken five out of six times. Although there was an improvement during the second frame Kenin’s still won less than 50% of her first service points.
The rollercoaster performance saw the 22-year-old hit 19 winners against 35 unforced errors. She also managed to convert five out of the 12 break point opportunities she had prior to the match coming to a premature end.
Kenin plays either 13th-seeded Yulia Putintseva or Barbora Krejcikova in the third round.
Elsewhere Ons Jabeur also experienced a difficult second round match against Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko who is best known for reaching the US Open quarter-finals back in 2009. The 15th seed rallied from a set down to prevail 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, after almost two hours of play. Overall, Jabeur fired 11 aces and broke Bondarenko five times during their match.
The Tunisian could next play Aryan Sabalenka if the Belarusian gets past Ajla Tomljanović.
Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova and Slovakia’s Tamara Zidansek have also booked their places in the last 16 with straight sets wins. Kudermetova dropped just three games against qualifier Bianca Turati and Zidansek toppled Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez.
