The second-round matches in the Dubai Tennis Championships, which are currently being held in its 23rd edition, extending until the 25th of this month, at the Dubai Duty Free stadiums in the Garhoud region, witnessed heavy-caliber surprises, following a number of seeders left the tournament competitions, with a total prize money of $ 2.9 million. With the participation of a group of professional tennis stars, led by 17 of the best 20 players in the world.
French Caroline Garcia, ranked fifth in the world, left early in the second round by losing to American Madison Keys, with two sets without a response, 7-5, 6-4, as it is also the fourth loss in a row for Garcia in the face of her American opponent, the runner-up of “Flushing Meadows” in 2017, knowing That the Frenchman achieved one victory over Keys in the first meeting that brought them together in the “Confederation Cup” competition nearly nine years ago.
Garcia (29 years old) was eliminated from the first round of the Dubai tournament last year as well, while Keys, who is participating in the Dubai Championship for the second time, achieved the 11th victory in her career once morest a player in the top five in the world rankings of professional tennis players, and the first since her victory over the Polish star. Iga Chivontec, in the “Cincinnati” championship last year.
As for the second surprise, it was represented by the loss of the Greek Maria Sakkari, the sixth seed, once morest the Czech Karolina Plishkova, with two sets without a response, with a score of 6-2, 6-1, while the seeds continued to fall, with the loss of the Russian Daria Kasatkina, the seventh seed, once morest the Czech Barbora Krychikova, with two sets once morest one with a score of 6. -4, 4-6 and 7-5.
On the other hand, Latvian (defending champion) Jelena Ostapenko, ranked 20th in the world, continued her campaign to successfully defend her title, following she qualified for the 16th round at the expense of Czech Linda Frohvitova, ranked 52nd, by defeating her in two sets without a response, 6-2, 6-0 in the match. An easy match that lasted only 56 minutes, but Ostapenko’s path to defending her title will not be easy today, as she will collide with Belarusian star Arina Sabalenka, the world number two and defending Australian Open champion.
Sabalenka had secured her qualification to the 16th round at the expense of American 49th seed Lauren Davis, following she outperformed her in the second round, yesterday, with two sets without a response, 6-0, 6-1, in a match that lasted 61 minutes, during which she did not find the Australian Open champion. Any difficulty in crossing into the third round, and finally, the third seed, Jessica Pegula, qualified by defeating Bulgarian Victoria Tomova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
Caroline Garcia visits the “Mohammed bin Rashid Library”
World number five, Caroline Garcia, visited the “Mohammed bin Rashid Library” in Dubai, on the sidelines of her participation in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The French star expressed her great admiration for the modern library, which is considered a unique masterpiece, and during her tour in its various departments, she explored some of the valuable books that abound in it, and there are more than 300,000 books.