Bejlek, Eala win Dubai main-draw debuts; Fernandez upsets Samsonova
Abu Dhabi champion Sara Bejlek and crowd favorite Alexandra Eala both scored wins in their respective tournament debuts at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Sunday, the opening day of play at the WTA 1000 event.
Dubai: Scores | Order of Player | Draws
After running the table out of the qualifying draw at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open two weeks ago, 20-year-old Bejlek kept the good feelings going with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Türkiye's Zeynep Sonmez -- a match between two wild cards. Earlier, Eala advanced to the second round when American Hailey Baptiste retired from their match with the Filipina ahead 6-4, 0-1.
Bejlek needed 1 hour and 15 minutes to secure an eighth straight match in the Middle East this month, in a match that was about efficiency. Both players hit 15 winners and served five double faults, but Bejlek played the big points better. She converted six of 10 break point opportunities, while Sonmez only connected on two of seven. Three of those came as Sonmez attempted to effort a way back early in the second set, when Bejlek held serve from a 0-40 deficit.
"Mentally, it was a very tough match, so I'm happy with how I managed it and how I played tonight," Bejlek said in her on-court interview after her first match as a Top 40 player. "[Eight straight wins] sounds great! I'm very happy how I'm playing on the court, and how I'm feeling."
Also playing at a career-high ranking, World No. 40 Eala captured a back-and-forth first set against Baptiste after just about three-quarters of an hour, and the American lucky loser pulled the plug a game later. The World No. 39 had lost to Rebecca Sramkova in the final round of qualifying only to earn a second shot in the main draw, but could not continue after toughing out a seven-deuce service hold to start the second set.
"No likes advancing in this way, and being on tour, I'm really starting to discover at this level how difficult it is to maintain your health, so I really hope that Hailey is OK and will bounce back soon," Eala said afterwards. "I'm super happy to be in the next round. These tournaments are such great experiences for me ... so I'm really doing my best to enjoy every moment I have on court."
Earlier in the day, No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova was the first seed to officially fall after the pre-tournament withdrawal of No. 15 seed and Doha champion Karolina Muchova, as well as 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen. She led 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez by a set, but the Canadian rallied to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 -- dropping Samsonova to 0-5 in three-set matches this season.