Image Source : TWITTER/@SOFIAKENIN Sofia Kenin
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States got here again from match level all the way down to beat Yulia Putintseva and attain the quarterfinals of the Abu Dhabi Open on Sunday.
Kenin posted 57 unforced errors to Putintseva’s 43 however nonetheless prevailed 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 over the Thirteenth-seeded Putintseva.
“I felt like immediately was extra of a psychological match. I follow together with her quite a bit so I do know her recreation nicely,” Kenin said. “I’m just happy with the way that I fought even though I wasn’t feeling 100% on court.”
Kenin dropped the opening set for the second consecutive match in Abu Dhabi. Putintseva had match level when serving at 6-5 up within the second set, however Kenin saved the purpose and broke Putintseva’s serve to take the set to a tiebreak.
Next up is a quarterfinal match with ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari, who beat former French Open and Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza 7-5, 6-4, posting 33 winners to 5 for the extra defensive Muguruza. Kenin received her two earlier matches in opposition to Sakkari, each in three units in 2018.
Also, Elina Svitolina saved two match factors in a final-set tiebreak to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8) for a spot within the quarterfinals. The second-seeded Ukrainian faces one other Russian opponent, Veronika Kudermetova, within the subsequent spherical.
“I was just trying to be focused on every point and not let this match take away the good tennis that I played in the first set,” Svitolina stated.
Aryna Sabalenka recorded her twelfth consecutive win in tour matches with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ons Jabeur. The fourth-seeded Sabalenka earned a measure of revenge for her defeat to Jabeur of their solely earlier match within the third spherical of the French Open in October.
“I didn’t give her any time to play, to make her trick shots,” Sabalenka stated. “At Roland Garros, the courts were really slow and she had time and it was really tricky tennis. I think this was the key to today’s win.”
Sabalenka has received each match she’s performed for the reason that loss to Jabeur at Roland Garros, and completed final season with titles on the indoor Ostrava and Linz tournaments.
The win over Jabeur units up a quarterfinal match in opposition to sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-4 of their third-round match.
