Defending champion Garbine Muguruza went the distance to win her opening match against Czech qualifier Katerina Sinakova on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Muguruza, the No. 4 seed, won 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-2 despite converting only four of a whopping 18 break chances.
Fellow Spaniard and No. 3 seed Paula Badosa did not survive her first-round clash with a qualifier, losing 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania in two hours and 32 minutes.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus was a 6-4, 6-1 winner against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia outlasted Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. No. 9 Danielle Collins retired from her match against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic due to dizziness, while No. 10 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine sent Egyptian wild card Mayar Sherif home with a 6-2, 6-3 decision.
Unseeded winners Tuesday included Russians Veronika Kudermetova and Varvara Gracheva, Switzerland’s Jil Belen Teichman, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
–Field Level Media