Baptiste stuns Navarro, Kessler and Samsonova move ahead at Abu Dhabi Open

Hailey Baptiste had to make a swift reset in order to come away with a 7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3 upset of No. 4 seed Emma Navarro at the the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open quarter-finals.

The American wild card had squeaked through an edgy first set by finding her best touch right at its close -- a gorgeously angled volley to save set point against her in the tiebreak, then a perfect drop shot to convert her own.

But that form deserted her over the course of a dismal second set in which she won just nine points. By the end of it, Baptiste was barely finding the court with any of her shots, and her frustration was visible.

“I just had to grind and keep digging and digging,” she said in her on-court interview. “Obviously the second set was not great for me, but I’m really happy I was able to turn it around. I just left the court to reset, I didn’t really tell myself much -- I never really leave the court, so me doing that was enough to reset.”

Indeed it was. Baptiste’s game clicked throughout the decider — not just the intermittent flashes of brilliance that she’d shown in the first set, but sustained and reliable aggression. At 4-3, she hammered a bold inside-in forehand winner en route to the only break of the set; she closed out the win with ruthless efficiency, slamming her seventh ace and then an emphatic smash on the last two points.

The result was a milestone one for Baptiste, who advances to her first WTA 500 quarterfinal, and first tour-level quarterfinal since Auckland last year.

Another American, McCartney Kessler, also took out a seed on Tuesday. The World No. 32 delivered a superb showcase of front-foot tennis to overpower No. 6 seed Leylah Fernandez.

However, No. 5 seed Liudmila Samsonova,

the 2023 runner-up, advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 dispatch of Indonesia’s Janice Tjen and will be Baptiste’s next opponent. No. 3 seed Clara Tauson Tauson also eased past qualifier Simona Waltert 6-3, 6-1, and will face Kessler next.

In the doubles, there was a full crowd on ADCB Court 1 to witness Filipina talent Eala and Tjen overcome Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic in dramatic fashion.

The match went down to a super tiebreak and the popular Asian duo came out on top in front of an ecstatic crowd.

Meanwhile, fans can look forward to watching the two most talked-about stars of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, as defending champion Belinda Bencic and Eala are confirmed to compete on Wednesday.

Olympic gold medallist Bencic will face British qualifier Sonay Kartal not before 5pm on the Stadium Court and this will be followed by Filipina star Eala taking on Aliaksandra Sasnovich as both try and book their places in the quarter-finals.

Bencic, currently ranked World No. 9, returns to Abu Dhabi in pursuit of a third Abu Dhabi Open title, having lifted the trophy in both 2023 and 2025.

Bencic said: “The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open is a special tournament for me — I’ve had some of my best memories here. The atmosphere is always incredible, and it means so much to return to a place where I’ve felt so much support from the fans.”

Nigel Gupta, Tournament Director at Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, said: “It was another wonderful day at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, with huge crowds and a fantastic atmosphere throughout the venue. Fans have even more to look forward to tomorrow, with defending champion Belinda Bencic making her tournament debut and crowd favourite Alexandra Eala aiming to book her place in the quarter-finals in the closing match of the day.”