Former top ten and 2012 Roland Garros finalist Sara Errani rallied from 1-5 down in the first set to battle past Saisai Zheng 7-5 6-3 in her debut match in the WTA tournament of Dubai.
The Chinese player got a double break in the first game after Errani made two unforced errors and in the third game with a backhand to race out to a 4-0 lead early on, but Errani bounced back by breaking serve in the 8th game. At 5-4 Zheng saved a break point in the 10th game with her backhand but made a double fault and an unforced error on her set point chances. Errani got her third consecutive break of serve to 30 before closing out the first set by 7-5 after 57 minutes.
Errani reeled off her 8th consective game to build up a 7-5 1-0 lead. Zheng rallied from 15-40 to break back in the third game. Zheng broke to love to claw her way back to 3-4 but Errani got another break to love in the 8th game. As Errani was serving for the match in the 9th game, she had to save a break point before sealing the win on the second match point with a passing shot after a 51-minute second set.
Errani could clash against her former doubles partner Roberta Vinci who will play her first match in Dubai against Yaroslava Schvedova two days after her triumph against Belinda Bencic in St. Petersburg.
Ana Ivanovic, who lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinal last week in St. Petersburg, breezed aside Daria Gavrilova 6-1 6-0 in under an hour to the second round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Gavrilova beat Ivanovic in an exciting rollercoaster match at the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome last year, but this time it was a totally different story.
Gavrilova dropped her serve in the second game of the first set after a series of unforced errors and a double fault. Gavrilova broke straight back but Ivanovic reeled off four consecutive games to cruise to 6-1.
Ivanovic got an early break with a couple of backhands in the first game of the second set en route to winning the second set with a bagel.
“We played once before it was a battle on clay, so I knew it was a tough match and I had to step up because I knew she is a great mover and she strikes the ball really well- Here the ball flies a little bit, so I tried to use that to my advantage and move forward a little bit. I did very well and was very aggressive on my returns, so overall I am very happy”, said Ivanovic.
Ivanovic set up a blockbuster match against Simona Halep.
“You want to play against the best, and next match is going to be a tough one for me. Simona is a tough and consistent player. She strikes the ball well. She moves well. It’s going to be a good challenge”, said Ivanovic about her next next match against Halep.
Elina Svitolina eased past qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-3 6-1 in her first match with her coach consultant Justine Henin in attendance.
Svitoloina will play against Garbine Muguruza in what promises to be one of the most inetresting second round matches.
Barbora Strykova edged Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 6-3 setting up a second round match against Julia Georges.
