ABU DHABI: Danielle Collins, Heather Watson and Ashlyn Krueger were among the players to book their places on Sunday for the main draw of this year’s Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open presented by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
The main draw of the WTA 500 event begins on Monday with Emma Raducanu, Marie Bouzkova, Caroline Garcia, Sorana Cirstea, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Xiyu Wang in action.
Sunday’s focus was on the final round of qualifying matches, and there were some outstanding performances for fans to savor at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City.
Grand Slam winner Watson’s game against Spain’s Rebeka Masarova followed a similar pattern to her opening match 24 hours earlier, with the Brit fighting back from a set down to progress.
Masarova took the first set 6-3 and while the second went right to the wire, it was Watson who came out on top in an entertaining tie-break. The third was completely one-sided, though, as the 2016 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion combined quality with consistency, taking the game away from her opponent to eventually win 3-6, 7-6, 6-1, setting up a round of 32 clash with Latvia’s Yelena Ostapenko.
Having won her first qualifying match in straight sets on the opening day, America’s Collins never looked in any real danger against the Czech Republic’s Linda Fruhvirtova and eventually recorded a fairly straightforward 6-4, 6-3 victory. Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka now awaits the 2022 Australian Open finalist.
After edging a tight first set 7-5, American Krueger won six games without response against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti to cruise through to the main draw, where she will play compatriot Bernarda Pera, who overcame Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets.
The lineup of qualifiers was completed by the Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova and France’s Diane Parry, who secured straight-set victories in their matches against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Japan’s Mai Hontama respectively.
Elsewhere on day two of the tournament, there was a host of off-court activities taking place, many of which involved the players.
To mark Kids Day at the competition, youngsters were invited to take part in clinics hosted by Tennis 360, with professionals Bouzkova and Parry coaching those in attendance, who learnt basic tennis skills designed to encourage participation and a passion for the sport.
