Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – Dubai tennis new update

Written by: Staff on 21st February 2012

It was a pretty wild qualifying draw. Strong, but full of upsets. Only one qualifying seed — #9 Iveta Benesova — made it in directly; she beat Casey Dellacqua 6-1 7-5. Of course, with Petra Kvitova out, that still leaves a spot for a Lucky Loser. That spot goes to #2 qualifying seed Polona Hercog, who lost 6-7 7-6 6-3 to Aleksandra Wozniak. Next in, if another spot opens, is #4 Mona Barthel, who fell 6-4 6-4 to Petra Martic. The last qualifier is Simona Halep, who beat Arantxa Rus 6-2 6-2.

Singles – First Round: (8) Jelena Jankovic def. Petra Cetkovska 6-2 6-2

A nice bounce-back for Jelena Jankovic after her poor result last week. But she still has points to defend. Petra Cetkovska will not rise above her current #30, although there isn’t much chance that she will fall.

Singles – First Round: Maria Kirilenko def. Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-0

Given the way Monica Niculescu has been playing lately, this was amazingly un-close. Niculescu will likely stay Top Thirty, but her chance for another career high is probably gone.

Singles – First Round: Flavia Pennetta def. Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-3

Both these two had substantial points to defend. This will probably suffice to keep Pennetta Top Thirty. Medina Garrigues may fall a spot or two but should stay Top Thirty also.

Singles – First Round: Julia Goerges def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova just fell out of the Top 25 (see today’s Movers), and this means she won’t be making it back at this time.

Singles – First Round: (WC) Shahar Peer def. (WC) Fatma Al Nabhani 6-3 6-1

Symbolically interesting, perhaps, but in terms of points, Shahar Peer stays right where she came in.

Doubles – First Round: Hsieh/Peng def. (3) Hantuchova/A.Radwanska 6-3 6-4

The field here, as we’ve noted several times, is very tough, so we may see a lot more surprises like this.