Dubai Teenage sensation Eugenie Bouchard of Canada was one of the stars sailing through to the second round of qualifying on the opening day of the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Bouchard, who made the headlines when she reached the singles semi-finals at last month’s Australian Open, took her time on Court No. 1 before winning in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 against Russian girl Vera Dushevina.
The Quebec resident, who last week helped Canada reach the Fed Cup World Group Play-offs for the first time since 2004, will now meet a second Russian, Tsvetana Pironkova in Sunday’s second round of qualifying.
Also winning on the opening day were all three Germans in the qualifying round. Annika Beck powered her way to a 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 win over Abigail Spears; Andrea Petkovic was an easy 6-3, 6-2 winner over Claire Feuerstein while Mona Barthel dug in deep before finding her way past Claire Feuerstein 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
Colourful American Bethanie Mattek-Sands was another winner on the first day as she defeated Czech Republic’s Kristyna Pliskova 6-3, 6-4, while Karolina Pliskova saved match point to win 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 against Alla Kudryavtseva and set a meeting with second seed Shuai Zhang of China.
Italian Flavia Pennetta, seeded No. 3 in the qualifying rounds, was another big winner with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Slovak girl Kristina Kucova.
