Seeds tumble on Day 2 of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships sprung numerous surprises on day two, as 10th seed Veronika Kudermetova and No.11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia tumbled out of the tournament in the first round.

In the day’s opening match on Centre Court, Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, the World No.70, recorded the biggest shock of the women’s WTA 1000 event so far when she battled back from a set down, and saved two match points in the second set to prevail 4-6 7-6 (7) 6-4 against 11th seed Maia.

At 3 hours and 29 minutes on court, the pair delivered the 2023 WTA season’s longest match.

“I wasn’t planning to break the record to be honest. I fought really hard today and have nothing left,” said an exhausted but delighted Cirstea.

Over on Court One, No.10 seed Veronika Kudermetova, last year’s beaten finalist, also made an early exit from the Championships, losing in three sets to Anhelina Kalinina.

In another match lasting more than three hours, Kalinina won the first set 6-3, before 10th seeded Kudermetova turned the momentum by taking the second set 7-5.

Kalinina, however, refused to crumble and came firing back, breaking her opponent’s serve three times in the third set before serving out the match. She will now play Dayana Yastremska in the second round.

Jelena Ostapenko achieved a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ukraine's Katarina Zavatska.

Ostapenko will face Czech wildcard Linda Fruhvirtova in the second round.

Elena Rybakina defeated former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 6-4.

She faces American Lauren Davis in the second round.

Tickets for the 31st edition of the Championships are on sale on the tournament's website, starting from AED 55.

Tickets are also available at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium Box Office between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm daily.

The Championships' WTA event runs until February 25, before the 31st staging of the ATP Tour 500 tournament from February 26 to March 4.

Both events carry equal prize money.