WTA Dubai: Upsets Galore in 3rd Round

WTA Dubai: Kvitova, Ivanovic, Radwanska & Venus all bow out!

The 2015 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, held on outdoor hard courts, have now reached the quarter final stages . The first Premier 5 level event of the WTA calendar has already witnessed a multitude of shocking upsets. Or are they quite so shocking?

(Rank/Seed)

The first to go was (8/5) Agnieszka Radwanska, losing 64 62 to (24/-) Garbine Muguruza of Spain. The former champion of 2012 had complained of illness one round earlier, when she had struggled to subdue Caroline Garcia in 3 sets. It seemed today as if her game was out of sync, particularly when you consider she hit 22 unforced errors, an extremely high number for someone usually so dependable. Muguruza played brilliantly, returning with great pace and depth. She had beaten Radwanska earlier in the year at Sydney and seemed confident in her ability to take charge of the point.

Next up was (11/8) Venus Williams, the defending champion who hadn’t lost a match here in a decade. The Czech, (15/11) Lucie Safarova put a stop to it, ending her 16 match winning streak here in just over an hour, 64 62. Her game was flawless from start to finish, her winner:error ratio an impressive 22:8! Venus played and moved sluggishly and appeared a mere shadow of the player she was in Australia. Even the umpire seemed to go against her, twice making overrules which cost her the point. The win was a 2nd straight for Lucie in their head to head series, after Cincinnati 2014, not bad when you consider she had so very nearly lost in the previous round to Casey Dellacqua.

More from WTA

(6/4) Ana Ivanovic was looking to avenge her defeat at the US Open last year against Czech, (18/17) Karolina Pliskova. It didn’t happen, as she was beaten 62 46 64 by her in form opponent. Karolina comes in off a run to the semis in Antwerp and appeared surprisingly fresh considering she’d already played a couple of matches here against tough opposition. Her 13 aces definitely helped her cause, particularly as things grew tense in the third. Ana had crushed Sabine Lisicki in her opening match, so I was expecting more from her. Ultimately, despite fighting hard to recover from a set and a break deficit, the nerves took hold late in the decider when she hit successive double faults to fatally relinquish her serve in the 9th game.

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the top seeds, (3/2) Petra Kvitova went down 63 46 63 to (13/13) Carla Suarez Navarro. How has the Spaniard recovered so quickly from the neck injury which forced her to forfeit the Antwerp final on Sunday?! The physio must have worked a miracle because Carla was back to her best, dragging Kvitova all over the court with her topspin. It marks a 2nd straight year that Kvitova has lost in 3 sets in Dubai to Suarez Navarro! Perhaps we should have seen it coming though, considering her 3 set struggle against Elina Svitolina in the 2nd round.

So, after a day of shocks it was pleasant to see (4/1) Simona Halep and (5/3) Caroline Wozniacki halt the domino effect with straight set wins apiece. Wozniacki’s win was particularly impressive over (19/-) Alize Cornet 64 60, considering she’d survived Sam Stosur 46 61 75 in the previous round. Elsewhere, (9/6) Ekaterina Makarova continues to be one of the most consistent players on tour, winning in straight sets to set up an Australian Open revenge match with Simona Halep. Lastly, (14/10(w/c) Flavia Pennetta completed a not so surprising ‘upset’ over (12/7) Angelique Kerber 62 36 61, who really has lost her way.

Next: Eugenie Bouchard: How can she improve?

More from Lob and Smash

Home/WTA