Serena Williams withdraws from Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
The world’s top two Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber have both been forced to withdraw from the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The news comes as a major blow to tournament organisers who would have hoped for a rematch of the Australian Open final last month when the German clinched her maiden grand slam title by defeating Williams.
It is the third time in four years that world No. 1 Williams has withdrawn from the tournament.
Women’s Singles – First Round
C. Vandeweghe (USA) d [6] [WC] Ka. Pliskova (CZE) 76(5) 61
J. Goerges (GER) d [8] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) 60 61
C. Garcia (FRA) d A. Schmiedlova (SVK) 64 61
A. Petkovic (GER) d C. Giorgi (ITA) 62 61
M. Brengle (USA) d E. Makarova (RUS) 64 75
K. Mladenovic (FRA) d L. Tsurenko (UKR) 62 76(1)
Women’s Doubles – First Round
S. Errani (ITA) / C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) d [1] B. Mattek-Sands (USA) / Y. Shvedova (KAZ) 60 46 10-6
Y. Xu (CHN) / S. Zheng (CHN) d [WC] F. Al Nabhani (OMA) / T. Pironkova (BUL) 46 62 10-8
Women’s Qualifying Singles – Final Round
[6] S. Zheng (CHN) d [1] V. Lepchenko (USA) 75 61
T. Pironkova (BUL) d [2] A. Friedsam (GER) 57 75 63
Y. Shvedova (KAZ) d [4] D. Allertova (CZE) 64 46 76(6)
J. Cepelova (SVK) d B. Mattek-Sands (USA) 64 16 63
Madison Brengle stuns Ekaterina Makarova in Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship opener
Madison Brengle produced an upset in the very first match of the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships when she defeated former top 10 star Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 7-5.
Jelena Jankovic schools teen Belinda Bencic in Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Jelena Jankovic joked on court on Tuesday about the age difference between her and the Belinda Bencic, the opponent she had just beaten to make the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“I’m 12 years older than her… almost her whole age,” laughed the Serb after completing a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over the 18-year-old Bencic.
Sara Errani claims Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title
Sara Errani was undecided whether she wanted to travel to Dubai last weekend or simply take a few weeks off the Tour to recharge her batteries.
On Saturday night, the 28-year-old Italian stood in the middle of centre court with the silver dhow trophy aloft to become the first women’s champion from Italy at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open. This was also her first title for the 2016 season as she swept aside her Czech opponent Barbora Strycova 6-0, 6-2 in a lopsided final in a mere 64 minutes.