(Tennis news) Elena-Gabriela Ruse was making her debut at the Dubai Duty Free Championship along with Paula Badosa. Ruse was making her presence felt from the baseline as Badosa had fast serves but found it difficult to cut short the rallies, a handful of winners helped the Spaniard to level the score in the second set. 

In the final set, the 3rd seed was leading 4-1 but the qualifier was yet to give up as she took the last five games for a first the biggest win in her career. The 24 year old was brave enough to go for the winners in the final few games even though she had a lot to cover for. Ruse defeated Badosa 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka was playing at Dubai after a 11 year absence. Azarenka had reached the finals back in 2010 where she lost to Venus Williams, this time it was Veronika Kudermetova who handed an opening round loss to the former finalist. Kudermetova was surging ahead in the match as she did not allow the 32 year old to take the lead in both sets. The world number 31 is into the round of 16 for the first time at the event and will face Garbine Muguruza for a place in the quarterfinals. Kudermetova defeated Azarenka 6-3, 6-4.

Elina Svitolina showed how familiar she is with the courts when she played against Mayar Sherif in the opening round. Svitolina had won the titles here in 17,18 and reached the semifinals in 16,19 but had faced first round defeats in her last two appearances. The Ukrainian showed consistency in the match as she had few unforced errors and was hitting solid winners. 

Mayar had her moments in the match, her dropshots were too good as the 10th seed failed to get most of them. After 2 set points in the first set, Svitolina finally won the game which lasted for 10 mins and in the next set the wildcard was down 4-1. The Egyptian still took points from the net but it was enough for the world number 15 advancing to the next round. Svitolina defeated Mayar 6-2, 6-3.

Ons Jabeur hit over 42 winners in her return to tour after a month due to a back injury. Jabeur had to give everything against Vera Zvonareva as she entered the round of 16 for the third year running. The Tunisian’s forehand was strong and found its way across Zvonareva in the opening set, in the second set the veteran took a 4-0 lead with vintage defensive tactics. In the final set, there were service breaks by both players but the 37 year old lost control of her serve to give the lead in the 11th game. At 6-5, the former world number 2 had three breakpoints but Jabeur’s forehand made sure the match ended before the tie breaker. Jabeur defeated Zvonareva 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

Also read: Pegula hands opening round defeat to Gauff at Dubai