Dubai: The battlelines were complete for the quarter-finals of the 27th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge with young Japanese Mei Yamaguchi taming Canada’s Carol Zhao to settle for a meeting against top seed Polina Kudermetova, while Tatiana Prozorova knocked off fifth seed Elena Pridankina to run into qualifier Sofia Costoulas.
The highlight of the day was the match between Jodie Anna Burrage and Viktoria Hruncakova as the British girl took exactly two hours before cruising past her Slovakian opponent 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas also booked her spot with a tough 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win against Evialina Laskevich.
Straight-set win
On Wednesday, the popular Alexandra Eala, the 2022 Junior US Open champion and seeded No 4 here, had booked her place for a meeting against Japan’s Kyoka Okamura, while Frenchwoman Amandine Hesse had eased into the last eight with a straight-set win against Amarni Banks at the lower end of the draw.
Friday’s quarter-finals will get under way from 11am with Eala meeting Okamura, while Burrage will take on Hesse in the first matches on the two main courts at Habtoor Grande Resort.
Burrage was relieved to come through three tough sets against Hruncakova. “Unlike the day before, I was not in control today. She [Hruncakova] was getting a lot of balls in and that was a bit worrying to me. But, fortunately my serves worked well today and I was able to get over the line in the end,” Burrage admitted.
The 25-year-old British will next take on Hesse — the lone lucky loser still in the main draw. “I think I need to be patient against Hesse. I take a lot of confidence from today against her. I love so many things here in Dubai — the food, the sun, the beach, and it is in my interest that I continue in this tournament.,” Burrage said.
Also heaving a sigh of relief to be in the quarter-finals was Belgium’s Costoulas. “I was down a bit in the third set, and I was feeling a bit negative. But I think I went back to the first set and drew on all the right things that I had done. That helped immensely. I realised that she was getting more aggressive in the third set, but I had enough energy to turn things around and win,” Costoulas said.
Beaming with confidence
The 19-year-old from Genk who has come through the qualifying rounds before packing off last year’s runner-up Arianne Hartono in their opening round, was beaming with confidence. “This is the last tournament of the season for me, and I have nothing to prove against anyone. I will be out there giving off my best,” Costoulas promised.
Prozorova, who is next up against Costoulas, improved her record against Pridankina to 3-0 following Thursday’s win. “My husband [Alexander] arrived this morning and that has put me in a different frame of mind,” she admitted.
“I think it is going to be a close match against Sofia tomorrow,” she related.
“Today was ideal for tennis as there was no wind and the ball was steady. I hope the conditions are similar on Friday,” Prozorova hoped.
In the last match of the day, Mei Yamaguchi was in a hurry as she packed off Canada’s Carol Zhao 6-1, 6-2 in just 76 minutes of intense tennis. “Her strong point was her slice, so I decided to counter her moves by not allowing her to settle in and dictate to me,” related the 25-year-old as she readied to take on top seed, Polina Kudermetova.
“I’ve got to focus on my game and on what I can do out there on the court. I will be out there believing I can get past this hurdle too,” she added.
