Dubai: The Japanese triumvirate of Akiko Morigami, Ayumi Morita and Aiko Nakamura marched into the second round qualifying for the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships that got under way at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday.
Morigami cruised to a swift 6-2, 6-1 win against Olga Savchuk of Ukraine, while Morita struggled against her German opponent Angelique Kerber before winning 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Nakamura, too, was stretched over three sets before securing a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win against Italy's Tathiana Garbin.
Also securing easy wins were Russians Vera Dushevina, seeded number six in the qualifiers, and Ekaterina Makarova with 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, 4-0 (retd) wins over Tatiana Poutchek and Elena Likhovtseva respectively.
Greek Eleni Daniilidou, seeded number four in the qualifiers, was an easy winner against Kathrin Woerle of Germany to advance to a second round meeting with Makarova.
The second round of qualifying matches will continue this morning with the main draw of the competition getting under way from 2pm tomorrow.
Results
First day of qualifying at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships being played at the Dubai Tennis Stadium:
Eleni Daniilidou b Kathrin Woerle 6-3, 6-4
Ekaterina Makarova bt Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 4-0 (retd.)
Vera Dushevina bt Tatiana Poutchek 6-2, 6-1
Akgul Amanmuradova bt Zuzana Ondraskova 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0
Galina Voskoboeva bt Angelika Bachmann 6-4, 6-1
Monica Niculescu bt Anna Lapushchenkova 7-5, 6-1
Alisa Kleybanova bt Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-3
Aiko Nakamura bt Tathiana Garbin 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Julie Ditty bt Mervana Jugic-Salkic 6-4, 6-3
Eva Hrdinova bt Katie O'Brien 7-6(5), 6-2
Ayumi Morita bt Angelique Kerber 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Akiko Morigami bt Olga Savchuk 6-2, 6-1
Irena Pavlovic bt Stephanie Foretz 4-6,7-5, 6-4
Urszula Radwanska bt Kira Nagy 6-0, 6-2
Elena Vesnina bt Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-3.
Also securing easy wins were Russians Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova...
