No. 9 Paula Badosa of Spain held her “home” court on Sunday to win her opening match at the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Badosa posted a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Lulu Sun of New Zealand, winning 87 percent of the points on her first serve. For Badosa, it was her first win in the Dubai tournament.
She next will face Elise Mertens of Belgium, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Leylah Fernandez of Canada. And she’ll have a very short commute to the courts for the WTA 1000 tournament.
“It’s a special tournament. I’m glad I got the win,” said Badosa, who added she lives “five minutes” from the courts and frequently trains there.
Badosa, a semifinalist at the Australian Open, said she knew her opening-round pairing wouldn’t be easy.
“She’s very aggressive,” Badosa said of Sun. “She has very good shots. She’s lefty, so it was tough to read her serves.”
Badosa racked up 14 break chances, converting just three.
“The first match is always tricky. She’s a great player and she’s always dangerous,” Badosa said.
Further from home, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina had a quick match against Russian Anna Kalinskaya, the No. 15 seed, capitalizing on six of seven break chances to win 6-1, 6-2 in just 66 minutes.
In an all-Russian match, Liudmila Samsonova also needed just 66 minutes to oust Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Samsonova fired six aces and won the points on 84 percent of her first serves.
Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin topped the No. 16 seed, Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-5, 6-3. And Czech Karolina Muchova, the No. 14 seed, got past Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-2 in 72 minutes.
Other winners were Alycia Parks of the United States, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, Czech Linda Noskova and Belinda Bencic of Switzlerland, all in straight sets.
Also victorious in straight sets was former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, a Czech.
–Field Level Media
