British No 2 Sonay Kartal booked her place in the Last 16 of the WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open with a 6-3 7-6(8) win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa on Monday, and will face Switzerland’s top seed Belinda Bencic on Wednesday.
I’m so honoured to share the court with one of my closest friends, Zeynep. I admire her so much, and she’s really making waves in many ways, and our friendship goes beyond tennis, and I’m so grateful for that. Alex Eala
Kartal started the season with a strong run in Auckland, reaching the quarter-finals, but met her match against Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in the 1st-round of the Australian Open.
Here, she has worked her way through qualifying without dropping a set to either Ukraine’s Yulia Starodubsteva or Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus to reach the main draw.
Bucsa might be ranked 4 places higher than Kartal, who sits at No 61 this week, but her stats this year lag behind the Brit’s, who has also got a couple of matches under her belt here in Abu Dhabi.
Kartal led 5-2 in the second set before the Spaniard bounced back to force a tiebreak, in which the 24-year old Brit eventually prevailed to take the match after an hour and 33 minutes.
Her next opponent, Bencic, the World No 9, received a 1st-round bye, and will open her campaign against Kartal on Wednesday.
Alex Eala thrilled Abu Dhabi fans with her win over pal Zeynep Sonmez on Monday
Large crowds flocked to Zayed Sports City for Day 2 of the Abu Dhabi Open as fans enjoyed world-class tennis headlined by an emphatic victory from a crowd favourite, Alexandra Eala.
Off the court, 2,897 students from 41 schools attended as part of the tournament’s free-entry initiative for children until Thursday.
In the final match of the day in front of a packed-out Stadium Court, the 1st-round showdown between Eala and Zeynep Sonmez produced a contest between two trailblazing friends, who are breaking new ground for their respective countries on tour.
In the end, it was Eala from the Philippines who came through, 6-4 6-3, in an hour and 29 minutes, improving her overall record against Turkey’s Sonmez to 3-0.
Two weeks ago, Eala became the first Filipino to be ranked in the Top 50, while Sonmez was the first Turkish woman to reach the 3rd-round of a major and brought immense fan energy to Melbourne Park, where the Filipino and Turkish communities turned out in droves to support their heroines, and their matches were characterised by fervent cheers, chants and flag-waving.
“Recently, I’ve been playing in front of so many big crowds and I’m starting to find my groove a bit,” Eala said. “I really appreciate all the fans coming to watch me with their families, especially on weekdays.”
In Abu Dhabi, though, there was no meeting of rival fanbases, with the Filipino contingent dominating the heavily pro-Eala crowd, but, after the 20-year-old had completed her win, she was quick to pay tribute to Sonmez.
“I’m so honoured to share the court with one of my closest friends, Zeynep,” Eala said. “I admire her so much, and she’s really making waves in many ways, and our friendship goes beyond tennis, and I’m so grateful for that.”
The pair went toe-to-toe in a fiercely competitive contest featuring high-octane exchanges that saw both seeking to impose their flat striking by taking the ball early, and finding sharp angles to open up the court.
They also share attackable serves and an aggressive mindset on return resulted in 10 service breaks out of 19 games in total.
Eala’s fast start to each set proved key, and, having got herself off to quick leads in both, she was able to keep her nose in front as Sonmez chased valiantly, but never quite caught up.
“It’s definitely something you have to get used to,” Eala said about the experience of playing a friend. “Maybe it’s harder in the juniors, but as a professional you learn to disassociate. In the end, we both want the best for each other, but we know, that when we’re on court, we’re going to do our best, both of us, to do what we can.”
Eala will next face Belarusian lucky loser Sasnovich, who out-manoeuvred No 8 seed Paula Badosa, 6-4 3-6 6-1, with an array of angles and lobs to improve to 2-1 overall against the Spaniard.
Jelena Opstapenko, No 7 seed, saved 2 match points before defeating qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva in 3 sets in Abu Dhabi on Monday
WTAtennis.com
Also in an evening encounter, No 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia triumphed in the day’s most dramatic tilt, saving 2 match points against Russian qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva en route to a 5-7 7-6(4) 6-2 win after 2 hours and 43 minutes.
It was the Latvian’s first win from match point down since her 3-6 6-4 7-6(7) defeat of Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the 2024 Linz 2nd-round.
Ostapenko led 5-2 in the first set, only to drop 8 straight games as Selekhmeteva began finding the corners with pinpoint counter-punches.
From 0-3 down in the second, the Latvian gradually worked herself into the match with disciplined hitting, saving 1 match point trailing 3-5 and another at 4-5.
Once she had edged the tense tiebreak, the former Roland Garros champion was at her free-flowing best in the decider.
“I gave it my all on the court, and am so happy with the win,” she of her come-back win. “The UAE is one of my favourite countries to play in, and the atmosphere was amazing.”
Ostapenko will next face another qualifier in round 2, 19-year-old Sara Bejlek, after the Czech dropped just 3 games in a 67-minute, 6-3 6-0, rout of last year’s runner-up Ashlyn Krueger, leaving the American flat-footed with a series of perfectly executed drop-shots.
In one of the finest matches on Day 2 in Abu Dhabi, Janice Tjen defeated Maya Joint in 3 tight sets
One of the finest matches of the day was between Australia’s Maya Joint and Janice Tjen, with the Indonesian eventually triumphing, 7-6(6) 3-6 6-3.
“This is my first time in Abu Dhabi and it’s been so nice,” Tjen said after her win. “It means so much to me the support I received today from the fans. The Indonesian fans were chanting ‘let’s go’ in my language which was amazing.”
Elsewhere, Swiss qualifier Simona Waltert came from 2-4 down in the third set to defeat 2024 finalist Daria Kasatkina of Australia, 7-6(5) 3-6 6-4, in 2 hours and 44 minutes, to set up a meeting with 3rd-seeded Tauson, who received a 1st-round bye.
Also advancing was Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, who recovered from 0-2 down in the second set to defeat Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil in a first-time encounter, 6-2 7-5, and she will line up against the No 2 seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova from Russia, who also received an opening round bye.
