Jelena Ostapenko and Amanda Anisimova suffered first-round exits at the Dubai Tennis Championships just two days after competing in the Qatar Open final. (More Tennis News)
ಌAnisimova, who beat Ostapenko in the showpiece match in Doha to claim the first WTA 1000 title of her career, was beaten by fellow American McCartney Kessler 6-2 6-3 on Monday.
✤Kessler's reward is a tie against world number three Coco Gauff.
🍌Earlier in the day, Ostapenko was defeated in similarly convincing fashion, losing to qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes.
🔯Indeed, it was the fourth time that the finalists of a WTA 1000 tournament lost their opening match in the following such event, after the 2014 Wuhan Open (Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic), 2023 Madrid Open (Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina) and 2025 Qatar Open (Aryna Sabalenka and Qinwen Zheng).
൲"Mentally, I was looking forward to it," Anisimova said after her loss. "Obviously, I have confidence right now.
🍒"But flying and not being able to test out the conditions – I didn't step out on the court at all ahead of the match. Physically, I was having a very hard time. I was in a little bit of pain.
ﷺ"McCartney was playing very well today. It was just a tough turnaround for me. I tried to find my game today, but it was pretty difficult physically.
🤡"I am happy with the way I was trying to fight and do as much I could. It just really wasn't enough against high-level players here."
𓆏There was also disappointment for Ons Jabeur, who battled admirably with a thigh injury but fell to defeat against Peyton Stearns in straight sets.
ꦛAfter losing the first set, the three-time grand slam runner-up received medical treatment but was unable to overcome the issue, bowing out after a 6-7 (6-8) 4-6 loss.
🍬Meanwhile, there was a victory for Victoria Azarenka, who survived a three-set thriller against Anhelina Kalinina.
꧅Azarenka came from a set down to emerge a 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victor, closing out the two-hour and 52 minute clash at the fourth time of asking.
ꦫAnd with that triumph came a little bit of history for the two-time grand slam winner, whose win saw her set-up a match against world number two Iga Swiatek.
﷽Azarenka equalled Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA-1000 match wins on hard courts since the format’s introduction in 2009 (158).
𒉰Mirra Andreeva also safely made it through to the next round after ruthlessly dispatching Elina Avanesyan 6-2 6-1.
ꦇAndreeva's victory saw her become the player with the most main draw wins (18) in WTA-1000 events before turning 18.
🥂The teenager will play Marketa Vondrousova in the round of 32.
