Dubai: Estonian Kaia Kanepi overcame a stiff challenge from qualifier Tamira Paszek of Austria in the opening round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships yesterday.
The world No 24 was pushed to the limit as the encounter seemed headed for an upset after the Austrian had won the first set 6-2. But Kanepi came back strongly in the second set with breaks in the sixth and eighth games to take it 6-2.
Paszek called for the physio before the start of the third set for some on-court treatment on her lower back. That did not seem to help as Kanepi went on to win 6-0 and become the first player to enter the second round here.
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour later confirmed that Paszek has suffered a lower back injury.
"I didn't play so good and I made too many unforced errors in the first set," Kanepi said.
"That allowed her [Paszek] to get confident, but luckily I started hitting the ball well in the second set."
"Normally, I am a slow starter as I take time to get adjusted to the surface and conditions," she added.
"But I am happy with the way I played and pleased to progress through to the next round."
Her opponent in the second round will be the winner of the match between Indian Sania Mirza and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Also advancing on the first day were Julia Schruff of Germany and Jie Zheng of China.
Schruff fought from a one-set deficit to beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, while Zheng breezed past the Russian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-1.
Schruff seemed headed towards an easy win after she powered her way to a 6-3 victory over her Czech opponent. But Kvitova came right back to win 6-2 and force the third set for the second time during afternoon play on centre court.
But by then Schruff had got the measure of her opponent as she notched two breaks to take the decider.
Play will start at noon today with some interesting first round match-ups. Serbian sensation Ana Ivanovic will be up against Russian Alisa Kleybanova, while Venus Williams will start either against Maria Kirilenko or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
RESULTS
Opening results from yesterday: Tamira Paszek vs Kaia Kanepi bt Tamira Paszek 2-6, 6-2, 6-0; Julia Schruff bt Petra Kvitova 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Jie Zheng bt Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-1; Tsvetana Pironkova bt Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-2, 6-3; Sara Errani bt Yung-Jan Chan 6-4, 6-4; Alisa Kleybanova bt Anna Lapushchenkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Sybille Bammer bt Mariya Koryttseva 6-1, 6-4.
Fixtures
Order of play: Vera Dushevina vs Zi Yan; Maria Kirilenko vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; Elena Vesnina vs Na Li.
