Veronika Kudemertova beat number 10 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-5 6-1 after 1 hour and 38 minutes at the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi.
Kudemertova scored her third win in as many matches against Kontaveit. The Russian player saved three of the four break points she faced and broke four times.
Both players traded breaks at the start of the match and stayed neck and neck until the 12th game when Kudemertova earned the crucial break to close out the first set 7-5.
Kudemertova went up a double break in the second and fourth games and held serve at love to seal the second set 6-1.
Bernarda Pera battled past Donna Vekic 7-6 (12-10) 2-6 6-4. Vekic got the first break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Pera converted her third break-back point in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Pera earned three mini-breaks to open up a 4-1 lead in the tie-break. Vekic pulled both mini-breaks back to draw level to 4-4. There were seven consecutive mini-breaks en route to 7-7. Vekic won three of the final four points with three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 12-10.
Pera earned an early break in the first game of the second set. Vekic won five consecutive games from 1-2 down with three consecutive breaks to close out the second set 6-2. Vekic broke in the second game to open up a 4-2 lead. Pera came back by winning the final four games with breaks in the seventh and ninth games to seal the third set 6-4.
Canadian teenager Leyiha Fernandez beat Jasmine Paolini 6-4 6-2. Paolini had to save a break point at the start of the first set. Fernandez earned her first break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Paolini broke back in the eighth game. Fernandez broke for the second time to seal the first set 6-4. After a trade of breaks in the third and fourth games of the second set Fernandez broke again in the fifth and seventh games to close out the second set 6-2. The young player from Montreal hit one ace and won 65 % of her first serve points.
Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Zarina Diyas 6-4 6-4 with a break in each set.
