Top seeds tumble as Jabeur storms into Dubai Tennis C’ships quarters

Amir Naqvi, Sports Editor

Reigning champion Garbine Muguruza suffered a second round defeat as top seeds tumbled in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

Only eighth seed Ons Jabeur played her part, with the Tunisian trailblazer and the Arab world’s top-ranked player advancing to the quarter-finals following a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jessica Pegula.

The only seed remaining in the draw, Jabeur, took one hour and six minutes to beat Pegula.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up, second seed Barbora Krejcikova, 10th seed Elina Svitolina, and sixth seed Iga Swiatek crashed out of the tournament.

Sabalenka was sent packing by 2013 Dubai champions and 2019 runner-up Petra Kvitova in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, fourth seed Muguruza lost to unseeded Veronika Kudermetova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, qualifier Dayana Yastremska eliminated Krejcikova, 6-3, 7-6 (3) and Jelena Ostapenko defeated Swiatek 4-6, 6-1, 7-6.

Muguruza, world No. 7 from Spain, started well and took the first set easily, but lost the rhythm in the second.

Serving perfectly Kudermetova, world No. 31, saved a single break point she faced. The Russian later broke the Spaniard at 5-4 to bounce back.

In the decider, Kudermetova fended off two break points and secured the ticket for the quarter-finals after the defending champions served three double faults.

She will meet lucky loser Jil Teichmann, who stunned two-time winner Svitolina 7-6, 6-2.

“I think I started the match not really well because I made a lot of mistakes from my side. Garbine (Muguruza), she play really good, solid rallies. In the second set, I try to find my game, play my best, and be aggressive at times.I started to mix my serve. I think it was the key,” said Kudermetova in her post match conference.

Kvitova took one hour and 25 minutes to sweep aside world No.2 Sabalenka at the Centre Court.

Both exchanged breaks early in the first set, but Kvitova took charge after managing to break the Belarusian again at 4-3.  In the second set, the Czech came back from a break down and later dictated the terms.

In the quarter-finals, Kvitova will face Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who shocked Swiatek.

Earlier, world No.15 Svitolina was the first to perish. Svitolina, who lifted the Dubai title in 2017 and 2018, struggled in the first set and tried to stay on after taking the opener to a tiebreak, but the Swiss proved superior.

Later, Teichmann staved off each of the five break points she faced in the second set to wrap up the battle.

“I am happy to win the match. I knew it was going to be a tough match, against Elina (Svitolina) as it’s always tough, so I was ready for that, which is why I tried to keep calm,” said Teichmann in her on court interview.”

Earlier, Swiatek and Ostapenko locked horns in the opening match of the day. Swiatek took the lead after winning the first set. Ostapenko made a comeback in the second by winning four straight games to draw level.

In the third set, she quickly took a 3-0 lead. Swiatek rallied to make it 3-3 before providing Ostapenko the chance to serve for the match at 5-3. The Pole broke back as the match returned on serve and then saved match point when the contest headed for a tiebreak.

Swiatek levelled at 3-3, dropped her serve in a remarkable 22-point eighth game to fall behind 5-3, saved a match point at 5-4 to level again at 5-5 before Ostapenko edged the tiebreak 7-4.

The world No.114 produced the biggest upset of the day after a straightforward win over Krejcikova. She will not meet fellow qualifier Marketa Vondrousova, who defeated another qualifier, Varvara Gracheva, 6-2, 6-0.

“It has been a day of high drama at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, with the impressive upsets by so many underlining the incredible depth in women’s tennis,” said Tournament Director Salah Tahlak. “Now, more than ever, results are unpredictable, and that adds so much excitement to the tournament. The next few days will be very interesting indeed.