With Serena and Azarenka Out, Wozniacki and Kvitova Among Those Advancing in Dubai
With the news of both world number one and number two-ranked Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka bowing out of the 2013 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, round one action wrapped up as Sara Errani and Petra Kvitova were among the winners moving on to round two.
The fifth-seeded Errani absorbed 10 aces and pounced at the very last minute to beat Julia Goerges, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. There were no breaks in the first nine games of the third set and that pattern looked like it was going to continue as Goerges built a 40-0 lead serving 4-5; but Errani fought off five game points in that game and eventually broke to seal a hard-fought victory.
The sixth-seeded Kvitova didn’t have as much trouble in her match, holding all seven service games and breaking five times to beat Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2, 6-1 to extend her unbeaten streak to 6-0 against Hantuchova.
"I’m not a person who looks at the score, it seems very quick and very easy, but some games were very close," Kvitova said. "But it was a good match from my side. I’m happy with how I played."
Also advancing was the number eight seed Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated Lucie Safarova, 6-2, 6-2. Safarova had won two of their three previous meetings.
"Lucie is a tough opponent—she takes the ball really early, really fast, and it’s tricky to play a left-hander as well. So I’m happy to be through," said Wozniacki. "There were quite a few positives to take from it."
Also advancing to round two was the seventh-seeded Sam Stosur, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Ekaterina Makarova.
