By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, February 20, 2017
Caroline Wozniacki continues to display drive in the desert, while Monica Puig and Alison Riske picked up the pace with rousing opening-round wins.
The 10th-seeded Wozniacki defeated Daria Kasatkina , 6-2, 7-5, in her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships opener.
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Fresh off her run to the Doha final, Wozniacki has won seven of her last nine matches.
The 2011 Dubai champion converted five of seven break-point chances wrapping up the win in 90 minutes against a talented teenage opponent.
The 19-year-old Kasatkina, who shifts spins and speeds of her shots effectively, defeated world No. 2 Angelique Kerber in Doha last week a month after she swept the then world No. 1-ranked German in Sydney.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match," Wozniacki said. "She mixes up the pace a lot and she has great hands and serves well. For me, it was important to play my own game and speed things up. I was pleased with my win.
"It's much different conditions here. The ball is flying. The court is faster than in Doha. I didn't really know how I was going to play to start off with. Generally, I was pleased with my game. Some serves were flying a little bit. I kind of have to adjust that for tomorrow."
Wozniacki was too steady for the world No. 32. Kasatkina committed 43 unforced errors—23 more than Wozniacki.
"I feel I can generate a lot of pace on these courts,” said Wozniacki, who will play Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic in round two. “I get to a lot of balls, too, which I think is frustrating for the other players that I can kind of go from defense to offense and really hurt them with that when they play a short ball.”
Olympic gold medalist Puig drove the ball down the line with authority at critical stages edging 49th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova , 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The 42nd-ranked Puerto Rican will play 15th-seeded Caroline Garcia in round two.
Christina McHale exploited 10 double faults from Kiki Bertens upsetting the No. 13 seed, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, in two hours, 33 minutes. McHale fought off nine of 11 break points advancing to a second-round meeting with 54th-ranked Naomi Osaka.
World No. 70 Catherine Bellis reeled off six straight games closing a 6-1, 7-5, upset of 17th seed Yulia Putintseva.
"I got myself in a bit of trouble in the second set, but I'm glad I got out of it. I just thought to myself, stick to my game plan, just keep steady, I can come back," Bellis told WTA Tennis.com afterwards. "I can come back against anyone I set my mind to. I'm really glad I got through it. in the beginning of the second, I think I won the first game. The second game was really long.
"So I just kept thinking to myself, I'm still in this match, obviously even when I was losing, still in this match, and I'm playing well, so I can come back whenever I want and whenever, you know, I get a good rhythm. So once I went down, I just stayed calm and stuck to my game plan and came back."
Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens toppled Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-2.
In a match of American Fed Cup teammates, Alison Riske dispatched an erratic CoCo Vandeweghe , 6-4, 6-4.
It was Riske's third straight win over her teammate as she evened her record with Vandeweghe at 4-4.
“It was a tough match for sure,” Riske said afterward. “Obviously CoCo is an awesome player. We were just in Hawaii together playing Fed Cup. It’s unfortunate we had to play each other first round; definitely happy I won.”
Vandeweghe doubled Riske’s unforced error output—28 to 14—in the 53-minute opener.
When Vandeweghe slapped a double fault into the middle of the net, Riske had her third straight service break to open the second set.
“It’s gosh-darn unbelievable,” Vandeweghe barked at herself after a missed serve. She belted a forehand winner down the line holding for 1-2.
Vandeweghe took a three-minute bathroom break and came back recharged. She swatted a smash breaking back for 3-all only to double fault on break point gifting back the break.
Festering frustration boiled over when Vandeweghe banged a backhand into net on break point then bounced her Yonex racquet off the court. Still, she came back to break for 4-all when Riske double faulted.
Ultimately, Riske put more balls in court when it mattered most. A netted forehand gave Riske the fourth straight break for 5-4.
A forehand sitter took Riske to triple match point. She fired an inside-out forehand winner serving out a one hour, 46-minute victory at love.