Top four advance in Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge qualifiers

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
 
The top four seeded players took a step closer to qualifying to the main draw at the end of Day One qualifiers at the 24th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort and Spa, on Sunday.

Top seed Julia Grabher of Austria toyed with Hong Kong’s Kwan Yau Ng to register a swift 6-1, 6-1 win, while second seed Anastasia Zakharova was equally quick in her 6-1, 6-4 win over Belarussian Lidziya Marozava.

Seeded third in the qualifying rounds, long-time Dubai entrant Kateryna Bondarenko from Ukraine had to dig in deep for a 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 win against China’s Shuyue Ma and set up a second round meeting with Great Britian’s Eden Silva.

Fourth seed Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia also went through as she eased her way past Germany’s Vivian Heisen 6-2, 6-3 and earned the right to play Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand.

Equally emphatic was Raluca Georgiana Serban as she blanked Turkish wild card Georgiana Raluca Serban 6-0, 6-0 in just 39 minutes.

Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia also advanced to the second round of qualifying with a swift 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia’s Angelina Gabueva. Sutjiadi will now meet eighth seed Berfu Cengiz of Turkey on Monday.

The second round of qualifying will continue on Monday morning along with a handful of matches from the main draw.

Sponsored by Mai Dubai, Hilton, V Hotel, Habtoor Palace, Emirates International School, Habtoor Grand Resort and Diamond Lease, the competition will conclude with the singles final on Nov.27.