ABU DHABI: Tunisian fan favourite Ons Jabeur blasted her way into the last eight of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council with a straight-sets victory over Brit Emma Raducanu.
Having been given a bye in the Round of 32, as one of the tournament’s four top seeds, Jabeur was in singles action for the first time, and eager to make up for the disappointment of exiting the doubles alongside partner Naomi Osaka last night.
It took Jabeur just one hour and 18 minutes to book her place in the quarter-finals, where she will meet Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat Magda Linette in the longest WTA main draw match of 2024 earlier today.
Having edged an entertaining, and relatively close, opening set, Jabeur stepped it up in the second and simply had too much for Raducanu, the Tunisian going through courtesy of a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
While there will be disappointment for Raducanu, the 21-year-old produced flashes of quality, particularly in the first set, as she continues her comeback fol
lowing a lengthy spell out injured last year.
In the preceding match, Sorana Cîrstea produced a near-flawless display to dispatch World Number. 9 Maria Sakkari in straight sets.
A semi-finalist at both the French Open and US Open in 2021, Sakkari went into the match as favourite but Cîrstea, a UAE resident, clearly felt at home as she played on the front foot from the start, taking the game to her opponent and forcing her into uncharacteristic mistakes.
Cîrstea won the first set in comfortable fashion, and with the response many inside Stadium Court expected from Sakkari failing to materialise, the Romanian blew her opponent away in even more dominant fashion during the second set on her way to a hugely significant 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Kazakhstan’s World Number. 5, Elena Rybakina, makes her first appearance of the tournament tomorrow when she takes on Danielle Collins, who defeated Naomi Osaka in the Round of 32.
A full round-up of today’s results runs as follows:
R16 – L. Noskova (CZE) / H. Watson (GBR) d
. [1] N. Melichar-Martinez (USA) / E. Perez (AUS) 63 76 (3)
R16 – S. Aoyama (JPN) / A. Krunic (SRB) d. F. Wu (TPE) / L. Zhu (CHN) 62 16 10-6
R16 – S. Kenin (USA) / B. Mattek-Sands (USA) d. M. Kato (JPN) / A. Sutjiadi (INA) 63 64
R16 – [7] D. Kasatkina d. [Q] A. Krueger (USA) 63 75
R16 – S. Cirstea (ROU) d. [3] M. Sakkari (GRE) 62 61
R16 – [6] B. Haddad Maia (BRA) d. M. Linette (POL) 76(6) 67 (1) 61
R16 – [2] O. Jabeur (TUN) d. [WC] E. Raducanu (GBR) 64 61
Source: Emirates News Agency
