Dubai: Aniko Kapros of Hungary staged a major upset as she toppled top seeded Alexandra Dulgheru, while the fancied Nicole Vaidisova started her campaign on a stuttering note with a three-set win over Katalin Marosi on the opening day of the main draw at the 11th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge on Tuesday.
Making the customary switch from indoor to outdoor proved too much for the Romanian as Kapros whizzed through 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 25 minutes even as second seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia eased through to the next round with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Ukrainian Yuliana Fedak.
But it was Vaidisova — a former World No 7 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour — gaining all the limelight as she got off to a slow start before winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 against a tiring opponent from Hungary.
Marosi broke in the fourth for a 3-1 lead and then one more time to take the opening set 6-2. The Hungarian did well in the second set with a break in the second for an early 3-0 lead.
Experience
Vaidisova used her superior experience to fight back and level at 4-4 and then served out 6-4. The third set went the same way and when Marosi netted a backhand, Vaidisova was relieved to get through to the second round here.
"I've not played for a long, long time and it's tough to get one's rhythm," Vaidisova told Gulf News.
"I will take it one match at a time hoping that I will get better as the tournament progresses," she added.
The second seeded player to cave in on the first day was fourth seeded Julia Goerges after she pulled out with an injury to her foot while trailing Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski 2-6, 1-3.
However, the eighth-seeded Evgeniya Rodina of Russia was one of the lucky ones to escape after she fought back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Slovakia's Kristina Kucova in more than two hours on Court No 2.
"I think I was a bit relaxed at the start, and by the time I woke up I was one set down," Rodina stated.
"After that I played smart and allowed things to happen by avoiding the stupid mistakes I had made in the first set. From now on I can only get better," she said.
Play will continue with the second round of the main draw from 9am today at the Al Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa. Entrance for public is free.
Finals on Saturday
The finals of the 11th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge are on course for this Saturday, despite one day's loss of play.
"We are on course and our thanks go out to the Le Meridien Royal Resort for going out of their way to help us in conducting some of our matches on their courts today and yesterday," tournament director Fareed Jayyussi told Gulf News.
None of the second round qualifying matches were played on Sunday following non-stop showers throughout the day.
On Monday, three matches were played on Le Meridien Royal courts.
Another three were held at the same venue yesterday, allowing organisers to catch up on lost time.
In case this had not worked out then organisers would have been forced to move the final by a day to Sunday.
"It's a huge relief that Le Royal Meridien stepped in to help out," Jayyussi said.
Both the doubles and singles finals are set to be played as scheduled on Saturday.
Results
Nicole Vaidisova bt Katalin Marosi 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Stefanie Voegele bt Jara Ghadri 6-4, 6-2; Aniko Kapros bt Alexandra Dulgheru 6-4, 6-3; Patricia Mayr bt Anna Floris 6-3, 6-1; Bojana Jovanovski bt Julia Georges 6-3, 3-1 (retd.); Kaia Kanepi bt Yuliana Fedak 6-2, 6-4; Darija Jurak bt Maria Kondratieva 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Lenka Jurikova bt Marta Sirotkina 6-2, 0-6, 6-2; Renata Voracova bt Jessica Cohen 6-1, 6-2; Evgeniya Rodina bt Kristina Kucova 4-6, 6-0, 6-1; Anastasiya Sevastova bt Oksana Kalashnikova 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; Zuzana Kucova bt Natalia Orlova 6-2, 6-4.
