Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) qualified for the second round of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a prize money of 2.3 million USD. The former leader in the world rankings won easily with by 2-0 (6:2, 6:4) against Arantxa Rus (Netherlands).
The Belarusian tennis player achieved a total of four breaks on the opening shot of the Dutchwoman in the match, which lasted 80 minutes.
In the next round, Victoria Azarenka will face the fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan).
The top-seeded Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Cori Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina will start their participation in the tournament from the second round after skipping the first stage. WTA ranking leader Iga Swiatek prevailed against Elena Rybakina in the final in Doha last week.
Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) is also moving ahead. The Ukrainian, who won the title in Dubai in 2017 and 2018, defeated her compatriot Anhelina Kalinina by 2-0 (6:3, 7:6).
Former champion Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia), who is 9th-seeded, served 11 aces and eliminated Wang Xiyu (China) after a turnover of 2-1 (5:7, 6:2, 6:3) in two hours. The Latvian triumphed in Linz and Adelaide earlier this season.
Former finalist Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) eliminated Zhang Shuai (China) after success with 2-0 (6:3, 7:5). The Czech won the title in Cluj-Napoca two weeks ago, and a few days ago she qualified for the semifinals in Doha.
