Last year’s Dubai finalist Elena Rybakina cruised past Zheng Saisai 6-0 6-4 in 1 hour and 13 minutes to advance to the second round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Rybakina reached her maiden WTA 500 Final in Dubai last year, but she lost to Simona Halep in the 2020 WTA Match of the Year.
Rybakina hit 18 winners (including 5 aces) and dropped just seven points in her first five service games. The Kazakh player built up a 6-0 3-1 lead with four breaks, but Zheng Saisai reeled off seven of the next ten points to break back in the fifth game. Rybakina earned another break in the 10th game to win the second set 6-4.
“I lost a bit of concentration in the second set. Saisai decided to risk stepping in on the returns. So overall I think it was no a bad match”, said Rybakina.
Marketa Vondrousova (2019 Roland Garros finalist) beat Ana Bogdan 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 33 minutes. Vondrousova went up a break in the first and seventh games, but Bogdan pulled both breaks back to draw level to 4-4. Vondrousova broke for the third game in the ninth game to win the third set 6-4. Vondrousova converted her third break point in the opening game of the second set. Bogdan broke back to draw level to 2-2, but Vondrousova earned her second break in the fifth game and held her final three service games to win the second set 6-4.
Madison Keys eased past 2018 Australian Open junior champion Liang En-Shuo 6-1 6-1 after 64 minutes.
Anastasia Potapova saw off Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-2. Potavova earned her only break in the fourth game to win the first set 6-3. Both players traded breaks in the third and fourth games of the second set to draw level to 2-2. Potavova reeled off four consecutive games with two breaks in the fifth and seventh games.
