DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova was toppled 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2 by Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the quarterfinals of the Dubai tennis tournament on Thursday.
Voudrousova led 6-2, 5-1 at one point in their duel, and she even had six match points before giving up.
Cirstea had also won their two previous duels, but the 22nd racket in the world admitted that she was certain that she would suffer a crushing defeat in Dubai.
“It’s the greatest comeback of my career,” admitted Cirstea. To be honest, when I was trailing 5-1 in the second set, I wasn’t even thinking about winning. I said to myself: “give a show to the fans, try to stretch the match, try to give them better quality play”. I still don’t know how I achieved it. »
She suddenly began hitting her shots with less restraint, while the seventh seed remained passive in the baseline on the other side of the net.
Cirstea saved two match points at 5-1, thanks to the aces. At 5-2, she saved another with a volley, while controlling the center of the field.
She ignored two more match points on serve at 5-3. Vondrousova served for the match for the third time at 6-5, but the 33-year-old wrong-footed her to snatch a sixth match point.
Cirstea continued her momentum in the tiebreaker and third set.
Her victory means an unseeded player will be in the final in Dubai. She will face the Italian Jasmine Paolini, who defeated Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez earlier in the tournament, in the semi-finals.
Another top seed, Elena Rybakina, withdrew from the tournament before her quarterfinal duel because of a stomach upset. Paolini, who was voted the most improved player on the WTA circuit in 2023, took the opportunity to reach her first quarter-final this season.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will meet China’s Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals later today, while American Coco Gauff will face Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.
Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semi-finals
Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and her New Zealand playing partner Erin Routliffe secured their place in the final four of the women’s doubles tournament in Dubai after defeating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe, the second seeds of the tournament, sealed the outcome of the match on the Dubai cement after an hour and 24 minutes of play.
They dominated their opponents both with their first service ball and with their second. Dabrowski and Routliffe were also more opportunistic, with three breaks in five opportunities. By comparison, Ostapenko and Kichenok, the tournament’s sixth seeds, converted just one of their five attempts.
In the semi-finals, the representative of the maple leaf and Routliffe will meet the Australian Storm Hunter and the Czech Katerina Siniakova, fourth seeds in the tournament.
The latter obtained their place in the final four after defeating the Japanese Shuko Aoyama and the Serbian Aleksandra Krunic 7-6 (3), 6-4.
2024-02-22 14:56:14
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