WTA opener in Abu Dhabi: Sakkari wins, Siegemund loses
The women start the 2021 tennis season with the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi. Laura Siegemund had to admit defeat in the first round.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 06, 2021, 03:12 pm
64 women are competing for the first title of the year, the event in Abu Dhabi is classified as a 500 tournament after the reorganization of the WTA categories. And for Laura Siegemund already over after the first match in the singles: The German, who won the double title with Vera Zvonareva at the US Open last year, was defeated by Kirsten Flipkens from Belgium 7: 5, 5: 7 and 4: 6th Flipkens could face the top seed Sofia Kenin in round two, who first has to play against a qualifier.
Elina Svitolina is number two in the event in Abu Dhabi, the Ukrainian opens against Jessica Pegula from the USA.
One round further is the strong Greek Maria Sakkari, who left nothing to burn in the 6: 4 and 6: 2 against Anastasia Potapova. There was also a sense of achievement for daria Kasatkina, who won against Qiang Wang in three sets. Ons Jabeur prevailed against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on the first day with main draw action.