Dubai: As many as three Chinese players made it into the singles main draw of the women’s competition at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships at the end of the qualifying rounds late on Saturday.
Leading the Chinese march was sixth seed Saisai Zheng, followed by tenth seed Lin Zhu and 13th seed Kai-Lin Zhang.
Zheng, who turned 23 on February 5, had a breakthrough 2016 while powering her way to a career-high No.60 in the singles in August. The native of Shaanxi made her way past Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 6-2 to set a meeting against Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena in the main draw.
Lin Zhu kept off Mandy Minella from Luxemburgh winning 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the main draw against Russian Ekaterina Makarova, while Kai-Lin Zhang was an easy 6-3, 6-0 winner against fourth seed Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia to book her main draw place against 12th seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia.
There was further success for Asia when eleventh seed Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei set aside Julia Boserup from the US 6-2, 6-4 to meet Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the main draw.
The biggest winner, however, on the second and final day of qualifying, was Tunisian Ons Jabeur following her hard-fought 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 win in nearly two hours of intense action against Gabriela Dabrowski.
Elise Mertens of Belgium was the eighth and last player to book her place with a hard-fought 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 win that lasted more than two and a half hours against Patricia Maria Tig of Romania.
Later in the evening, there was an alteration in the main draw following the withdrawal of British player Johanna Konta with a left foot injury. The change meant that that one lucky loser would join the eight qualifiers in the main draw of the competition.
RESULTS: On Day Two of qualifying at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday: Aryna Sabalenka bt Aleksandrina Naydenova 6-2, 6-2; Elise Mertens bt Andrea Hlavackova 6-1, 6-3; vs Ons Jabeur bt Gabriela Dabrowski 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1; Gabriela Dabrowski bt Nao Hibino 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (9); Lin Zhu bt Mandy Minella 6-1, 7-5; Saisai Zheng bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 6-2; Kai-Chen Chang bt Julia Boserup 6-2, 6-4; Kai-Lin Zhang bt Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-3, 6-0; Silvia Soler-Espinosa bt Risa Ozaki 64, 6-3; Patricia Maria Tig bt Elise Mertens 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
