Dubai: Tuesday's second round match for Kirsten Flipkens will be special in more ways than one for the Belgian.

After travelling to Dubai for the qualifiers of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship last week without anything, barring her tennis racquets and shoes, Flipkens has done well for herself and the spirit of the game in advancing for a second round meeting against Russian Vera Zvonareva, who battled her way past fellow countrywoman Elena Vesnina on Monday.

The drama for Flipkens commenced on Wednesday as she prepared to leave from Brussels. "Our flight to Zurich got cancelled in the morning without any notice and then ten hours later they offered us another flight to Munich. It was quite boring for us to stay at the airport doing nothing. And then, half an hour before departure the Munich flight too got cancelled, so they put us on a flight to London which was okay considering what we had already been through. But we had to stay on the tarmac for an hour because it was snowing," she recounted.

That delay meant she reached late for her onward flight to Dubai, forcing her to stay close to 18 hours at the Heathrow airport before getting another connection to Dubai. "So I went to sleep on the floor next to the desk just to make sure I don't miss it again when they opened the counter that was supposed to open at 4 am. There was too little time to go out and book into a hotel," she added.

The Belgian landed at the Dubai International Airport on Thursday night trying to catch up on precious sleep only at 3.30 am with her first qualifying match slotted the same morning (Friday).

"The only thing that I wanted to do was to sleep, but I had the pressure that I needed to play a match the same morning. I was not used to the weather, to the balls and to the courts and this was a big challenge for me," she smiled.

But that was just one of the challenges as she realised that the airline had lost her baggage too! "I had no choice but borrow some clothes from my friends here," she narrated.

That looked more like a good omen for the Belgian as she went on to win both her qualifying matches to make the main draw of the competition. And Sunday, she became one of four qualifiers entering the main draw here. "It could not have been better than this. You can't imagine how tough it is. I have done nothing but practiced and tried tracing my luggage with the airline. And if my bags don't arrive then I will have to go and buy some stuff for myself. We'll see, don't know what is going to happen, but I do think I have all the right reasons to stay back for a few more days in Dubai," Flipkens smiled.

After enquiries, it has been reported that British Airways delivered the player's baggage at the Grand Hyatt at 2 am (Monday) with a compensation of 35 pounds. "This has been one of the most bizarre incidents that have occurred to me in my career. It was like a step in the dark coming here for the qualifiers after going through all this. Mentally it is hard and very tough on court too but it's been worth it. And everything from now on is a bonus," Flipkens added.