Raducanu hot shot highlights win over Sakkari; Svitolina advances in Dubai
Emma Raducanu View Profile of Great Britain booked her spot in the second round of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-2 victory over Greece's Maria Sakkari View Profile on Sunday evening.
In an opening-night Center Court clash between players who have both ranked inside the Top 10, former World No. 10 Raducanu needed 1 hour and 29 minutes to take down Sakkari, who peaked at World No. 3 in 2022.
Dubai: Draws | Scores | Order of play | Main draw breakdown
Raducanu now holds a commanding 3-0 head-to-head lead over Sakkari (6-0 in sets). Indeed, Sakkari was one of the seeded players Raducanu beat en route to the Brit's groundbreaking result at the 2021 US Open, where she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
The win helps Raducanu get back on track in 2025. Raducanu beat Amanda Anisimova View Profile and Ekaterina Alexandrova View Profile at the Australian Open (two players who went on to win big titles shortly thereafter), but starting with her loss to Iga Swiatek View Profile in the Melbourne third round, Raducanu suffered a four-match losing streak which she carried into Dubai.
However, Raducanu regained her top form on Sunday, where she had 16 winners to just 12 unforced errors, and converted five of her seven break points. One of Raducanu's winners came when she chased down a deft Sakkari drop shot and returned it with interest, finding a superb passing Hot Shot:
Sakkari had 26 winners of her own on Sunday, but the Greek was undone by 32 unforced errors, with forehand miscues periodically showing up as the match moved towards its conclusion. Sakkari falls to 3-7 in main-draw matches this year.
In the second round, Raducanu will have her first career meeting with No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova View Profile , who stormed past qualifier Suzan Lamens View Profile 6-2, 6-2. Raducanu will go for her first Top 20 win since 2024 Wimbledon, when she defeated none other than Maria Sakkari View Profile .
Highlights: Muchova def. Lamens
Svitolina topples last year's finalist: Earlier on Center Court, Elina Svitolina View Profile defeated No. 15 seed Anna Kalinskaya View Profile 6-1, 6-2 in their first-round encounter in Dubai. Svitolina now leads their head-to-head 2-0, having previously beaten Kalinskaya on the clay of Rome last year.
Kalinskaya was the Dubai runner-up last year, when she beat three Top 10 players successively ( Jelena Ostapenko View Profile , Coco Gauff View Profile and then-No. 1 Iga Swiatek View Profile ) before a narrow loss to Jasmine Paolini View Profile in the final.
But Svitolina has had even more success at Dubai in the past. The former World No. 3 won back-to-back Dubai titles in 2017 and 2018, and she posted a 12-match winning streak at this event until a loss to eventual champion Belinda Bencic View Profile in the 2019 semifinals.
Svitolina brought that Dubai experience into Sunday's first-round match, which she won in just 66 minutes. Svitolina dropped serve at love in the first game of the affair, but she reeled off the next six games to take the one-set lead.
The second set went similarly smoothly for Svitolina and the Ukrainian moved into the second round, where she will face either Rebecca Sramkova View Profile of Slovakia or Clara Tauson View Profile of Denmark.
Bencic leads more first-round winners: 2019 Dubai champion Belinda Bencic View Profile was another winner on Sunday. The 2021 Olympic gold medalist from Switzerland swept past Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito View Profile 6-0, 6-2 in 63 minutes. Bencic won 81 percent of her first-serve points and never faced break point in the match.
Bencic is on a six-match winning streak, having won her second Abu Dhabi title two weeks ago before taking the Doha week off. The former World No. 4 is already back inside the Top 70 despite having returned from maternity leave just four months ago.
Bencic will take on No. 8 seed Emma Navarro View Profile of the United States next, in their first meeting. Bencic picked up the first Top 10 win of her return when she beat Elena Rybakina View Profile en route to her 2025 Abu Dhabi title, and now will aim for another.
Highlights: Bencic def. Ito | Kenin def. Vekic
In other first-round results, No. 9 seed Paula Badosa View Profile of Spain bested Lulu Sun View Profile of New Zealand 6-3, 6-4, and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin View Profile ousted No. 16 seed Donna Vekic View Profile 7-5, 6-3 in their first career meeting.
