WTA Dubai: Kvitova gives up, Svitolina out, Pliskova and Gauff fight their way through
Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina , like some other seeded players, did not get beyond the second round in the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai. In the lower half, however, there were no surprises.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Mar 09, 2021, 05:49 pm
On Saturday, Petra Kvitova had shown one of her best performances in the recent past in the final of the WTA 500 tournament in Doha with a clear 6: 2 and 6: 1 final success over Garbine Muguruza, only three days later the Czech was in the context of the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai already back on the field - and had an extremely unpleasant start with Jil Teichmann.
The Swiss woman clearly won the first set 6-2 and remained extremely uncomfortable in the second section. Kvitova - who had already undergone a medical timeout in the first round - also fought with her right thigh and was forced to give up after Teichmann's rebreak to make it 3: 4.
Muguruza and Swiatek fix knockout rounds
On the other hand, Kvitova's final opponent from Doha, Garbine Muguruza, fared better. The Spaniards prevailed against the only 19-year-old Amanda Anisimova 6: 4 and 6: 2. The 27-year-old now meets the reigning French Open winner Iga Swiatek, who for her part also asserted herself in two sets against Misaki Doi.
The Polish woman thus prolonged her triumphal march, which she had recently crowned in Adelaide with a final victory over Belinda Bencic. The Swiss also got off to a successful start in Dubai, but had to work much harder than Swiatek in her 6: 4, 5: 7 and 6: 4 over Veronika Kudermetova.
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The extra effort could well have been worth it for Bencic, as she is now the only seeded player who is still in the tournament in the first quarter of the draw. Both the top seeded Elina Svitolina (6: 2, 4: 6 and 1: 6 vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova) and the eleven leading Madison Keys (4: 6 and 3: 6 vs. Anastasia Potapova) already had to go into the second round pack their bags.
This is what happened to Kiki Bertens, who was fifth, who was defeated by Tereza Martincova in two rounds. The Czech qualifier will now face Coco Gauff. The 16-year-old defeated Marketa Vondrousova after falling behind in sets.
Pliskova now against Pegula
In the lower half, however, there were no surprises. In addition to Swiatek and Muguruza, all seeded players, Anett Kontaveit, Aryna Sabalenka, Elise Mertens and Karolina Pliskova, got their ticket to the round of 16.
With the exception of Pliskova, all of the best players in the world did not lose a set in the second half of the tableau. The second seeded Czech had some problems with Anastasija Sevastova, but ultimately won with 6: 3, 6: 7 (5) and 6: 2. The world number six now meets Australian Open quarter-finalist Jessica Pegula.
Here the single tableau in Dubai