Kvitova ousts top seed Sabalenka as favourites exit Dubai
Kvitova ousts top seed Sabalenka as favourites exit Dubai
Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova, the top two seeds, both crashed to second-round defeats in the Dubai WTA tournament on Wednesday, with defending champion Garbine Muguruza also exiting on a day of upsets.
Belarusian Sabalenka, the world number two, fell 6-4, 6-4 to former Dubai winner Petra Kvitova. French Open champion Krejcikova lost 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to qualifier Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
Russia's Veronika Kudermetova advanced to the quarter-finals past fourth seed Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, with Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko edging out sixth seed Iga Swiatek 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4).
Tenth seed Elina Svitolina's hopes of adding a third Dubai title to her collection ended early at the hands of Swiss lucky loser Jil Teichmann, 7-6 (7/0), 6-2.
Kvitova, Dubai champion in 2013, took only 85 minutes to complete her third win in five meetings with Sabalenka.
The two-time Wimbledon champion's ranking has slipped to 25th, but the 31-year-old reached her first quarter-final of the season.
Kvitova next meets Ostapenko who got the better of her fellow former French Open champion Swiatek in a thrilling tie which included 16 breaks of serve and nine double faults for the winner.
Meanwhile Teichmann's game was boosted by a solid serve which gave the 35th-ranked Swiss her second straight win over world number 15 Svitolina.
Teichmann next takes on Kudermetova who claimed her first win over Muguruza in four meetings in a match which lasted two hours and 17 minutes.
The Russian knocked out former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the first round on Tuesday.
The victory continues a solid start to the season for 24-year-old Kudermetova, who reached a WTA final in Melbourne, and the third round of the Australian Open in January.
A.Fischer--MP
