Garbine Muguruza and Jessica Pegula continued their strong form this year with wins at the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, but Pegula yesterday fell in the quarters.
Pegula was beaten 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 by Elise Mertens, who on Wednesday won against Belgian Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-2.
Also on Wednesday, Muguruza beat Iga Swiatek 6-0, 6-4 as the French Open champion was slow to find any rhythm, with six double faults and 17 unforced errors to Muguruza’s 10.
Photo: Reuters
“I had to bring my 100 percent aggressive game,” Muguruza said.
Swiatek dropped a set 6-0 for the first time since 2019, when she had yet to win a WTA Tour title and was beaten by Sam Stosur in qualifying for the Eastbourne tournament.
Muguruza’s win set up a quarter-final against Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-2. That quarter-final was to start after press time last night.
Muguruza beat Sabalenka in three sets at the Qatar Open last week on her way to the final. That run meant Muguruza was playing yesterday for the ninth time in 11 days.
Australian Open quarter-finalist Pegula needed just 53 minutes to complete an upset 6-0, 6-2 win over Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.
There was another upset as Anastasia Potapova beat sixth-seeded Belinda Bencic 6-1, 2-6, 7-5, despite the Russian posting 12 double faults along the way.
However, Potapova yesterday lost 6-0, 6-2 in her quarter-final against the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova, who on Wednesday beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2.
American Coco Gauff reached the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Tereza Martincova.
Additional reporting by staff writer
QATAR OPEN
AFP, DOHA
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that he “couldn’t care less about the outcome” after winning his first match in more than a year as he returned from injury to beat Britain’s Dan Evans at the Qatar Open.
Federer, 39, who last year underwent two knee surgeries, said “it felt great to be out there again ... it will give me a lot of answers.”
“It’s going to be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow,” he said following his epic 2 hour, 24 minutes 7-6 (10/8), 3-6, 7-5 victory over the in-form British No. 1.
The 20-time Grand Slam title winner had not played a match since a semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January last year.
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