Dubai, (Asian independent) Former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, Jil Teichmann of Switzerland and Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine dealt out a trio of upsets on Day 3 of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships.
Ostapenko triumphed in an extraordinary battle over another former French Open champion and No.6 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), Teichmann took out No.10 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6(0), 6-2 and Yastremska ousted No.2 seed Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6(3).
On a day of upset, Veronika Kudermetova shocked defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza, while Petra Kvitova knocked out No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Kudermetova of Russia earned her first win over Muguruza, upsetting the defending champion 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
Kvitova, the Dubai champion in 2013 and runner-up in 2019, jumpstarted her season with victory over World No.2 Sabalenka of Belarus, 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 25 minutes. Kvitova is now 3-2 against Sabalenka.
Former World No.2 Kvitova of the Czech Republic was just 2-4 in 2022 coming into Dubai, and her ranking has slid to World No.25. But the two-time Wimbledon champion pulled off her 11th career win over a Top 2 opponent to reach her first quarterfinal of the season.
Ostapenko stops Swiatek
It is the third win over Swiatek in as many meetings for Ostapenko, who also defeated the Pole at Birmingham 2019 and Indian Wells 2021. But this wildly oscillating contest, which featured 16 breaks of serve and remained unpredictable until the last ball, was the first time that the two former Roland Garros champions had gone three sets with each other.
The result marks the first time that Ostapenko has won consecutive main draw matches in Dubai. Fresh off the St. Petersburg semi-finals last week, the Latvian will bid for a second straight last-four run against either No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka or 2013 champion Petra Kvitova.
Teichmann, who reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final in Dubai last year, is only competing in this year’s draw as a lucky loser after falling to Katerina Siniakova in the last round of qualifying.
But the Swiss player has made the most of her second chance, reaching her first quarterfinal of 2022 with her second straight win over Svitolina. In one of the finest matches of last year, Teichmann saved six match points en route to a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) triumph in the first round of Madrid, and she reprised that upset here in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Former World No.21 Yastremska’s return to action last July after being exonerated of an anti-doping violation started promisingly with a run to the Hamburg semi-finals. But between that tournament and Dubai this week, the Ukrainian managed to win just five of 14 matches. Victories over Anna Danilina, Clara Tauson and Madison Brengle in qualifying kickstarted her tally of 2022 victories, but her defeat of Krejcikova is Yastremska’s first Top 5 win since beating Sofia Kenin at Doha 2020, and her third overall.
