24th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge: Top four seeds Grabher, Zakharova, Bondarenko and Selekhmeteva advance

sport — Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia advanced to the second round of qualifying at the 24th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge with a swift 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia’s Angelina Gabueva. Sutjiadi will now meet eighth seed Berfu Cengiz of Turkey on Monday. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: The top four seeded players took a step closer to qualifying to the main draw at the end of Day One qualifiers at the 24th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort and Spa, today.

Top seed Julia Grabher of Austria toyed with Hong Kong’s Kwan Yau Ng to register a swift 6-1, 6-1 win, while second seed Anastasia Zakharova was equally quick in her 6-1, 6-4 win over Belarussian Lidziya Marozava.

Seeded third in the qualifying rounds, long-time Dubai entrant Kateryna Bondarenko from Ukraine had to dig in deep for a 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 win against China’s Shuyue Ma and set up a second round meeting with Great Britian’s Eden Silva.

Wild card

Fourth seed Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia also went through as she eased her way past Germany’s Vivian Heisen 6-2, 6-3 and earn the right to play Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand. Equally emphatic was Raluca Georgiana Serban as she blanked Turkish wild card Georgiana Raluca Serban 6-0, 6-0 in just 39 minutes.

The second round of qualifying will continue on Monday morning along with a handful of matches from the main draw.

Sponsored by Mai Dubai, Hilton, V Hotel, Habtoor Palace, Emirates International School, Habtoor Grand Resort and Diamond Lease, the competition will conclude with the singles final on November 27.

Results: Day One of qualifying

Julia Grabher bt Kwan Yau Ng 6-1, 6-1; Zoe Kruger bt Alena Fomina-Klotz 7-6 (3), 6-4; Anastasia Zakharova bt Lidziya Marozava 6-1, 6-4; Kateryna Bondarenko bt Shuyue Ma 5-7, 6-2, 10-5; Eden Silva bt Joanna Garland 6-4, 6-1; Oksana Selekhmeteva bt Vivian Heisen 6-2, 6-3; Tereza Mihalikova bt Ekaterina Yashina 6-4, 6-4; Ilona Georgiana Ghioroaie bt Beatrice Gumulya 6-2, 6-1; Naiktha Bains bt Dalayna Hewitt 6-4, 6-3; Berfu Cengiz bt Anhzelika Isaeva 6-2, 0-1 (retired); Aldila Sutjiadi bt Angelina Gabueva 7-5, 6-2; Peangtarn Plipuech bt Fanny Ostlund 6-2, 6-4; Raluca Georgiana Serban bt Seven Oral 6-0, 6-0; Renata Voracova bt Marianna Zakarlyuk 4-6, 6-3, 10-2; Bibiane Schoofs 6-4, 6-2; Isabella Shinikova x Mika Dagan Fruchtman 6-0, 6-2.