DUBAI // Cagla Buyukakcay, the defending Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge champion, was hoping to get her new season off to a “perfect start” here in Dubai. Unfortunately for the Turkish player, things did not go to plan on Tuesday.
Instead, it was her opponent Ksenia Pervak, playing her first match after coming out of an injury-enforced retirement, got her comeback off to a perfect start.
She dismissed the top seed 6-0, 7-6 in an hour and 46 minutes, on a day which saw only one of the eight seeds make it through to the second round.
Playing her first match in more than 16 months, Pervak — the 2009 Australian Open junior champion and a former world No 37 who was forced to retire at the end of the 2015 season due to chronic injuries — showed little signs of rust in her comeback match.
She took the first set in just 39 minutes. The second set was a bit tighter, with three break of serves apiece, but the 25-year-old Russian cruised through the tie-break, dropping only one point. Overall, she won 78 points to Buyukakcay’s 55.
“It is a little bit different for me,” said Pervak, who started practising again in August but, until three days ago, was not even sure of taking the court for her first-round match.
“I had not played for so long. I had a few knee surgeries, including one in July.
“So I am really happy to get through the first round, especially against an opponent like Buyukakcay, who is always putting the ball back.
“I was a little bit tired towards the end because I have not played for so long. Playing matches is very different to practise, especially in conditions like these.
“So I am really happy I was able to go through despite the tiredness.”
The defeat meant Buyukakcay became the third seeded player to exit the tournament. Kristina Kucova, the second seed, and No 8 seed Cindy Burger lost Monday’s opening day.
Evgeniya Rodina, the No 3 seed, and Mandy Minella, the No 4 seed, were also eliminated, Rodina losing 6-7, 4-6 to Germany’s Mona Barthel and Minella was ousted 1-6, 5-7 to Nigina Abduraimova of Uzbekistan.
Rebecca Sramkova, the sixth seed from Slovakia, also did not survive, losing 6-0, 6-7, 5-7 to Tadeja Majeric of Slovenia. Later, Dalma Galfi, the 2015 US Open junior champion, rallied to oust seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Fifth seed Hsieh Su-wei was the only seed to survive the first round cull, defeating Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-3.
In the other first-round matches of the day, Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani, the newly crowned Arab champion, lasted only 43 minutes on court against Quirine Lemoine of the Netherlands before being blown away 6-0, 6-0.
Sabina Sharipova of Uzbekistan defeated Jana Fett 7-5, 6-3, while Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic brushed Ukraine’s Anastasiya Vasylyeva aside 6-4, 6-1 on her way to the second round.
Lemoine’s compatriot Lesley Kerkhove defeated Russian Viktoria Kamenskaya 7-5, 6-2, while Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic cruised past Elitsa Kostova of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3.
In the day’s final match, former world No 7 Patty Schnyder saw her Dubai campaign come to an early end at the hands of Barbara Haas. The German won the first set 6-3, only for her Austrian opponent to win the second and third sets 6-3, 7-5.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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