WTA Abu Dhabi: Russian qualifier shocks Karolina Pliskova
Karolina Pliskova was surprisingly eliminated from the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi. The Czech defeated the Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova in two sets.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 09, 2021, 12:13 pm
Not a good start for Karolina Pliskova and her new coach Sascha Bajin into the tennis year 2021. The Czech, who was third at the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi, had problems with the Greek Despina Papamichail at the beginning, against Anastasia Gasanova 2: 6 and 4: 6 but the end. The Russian qualifier, only listed at position 292 in the WTA world rankings, only needed 75 minutes of playing time for the biggest win of her career.
Elena Rybakina did better. The Kazakh, who had already started the year 2020 extremely well, won against Xiju Wang from China 6: 4 and 6: 4. Rybakina is now playing against Daria Kasatkina. The Russian got on without a fight because her opponent Karolina Muchova withdrew without giving any reasons.
Elina Svitolina , number two in the tournament, had no problems in the 6: 4 and 6: 1 against Vera Zvonareva.