Świętek faces Canada's Fernandez today in search of the title on third attempt
World number one begins the journey of «Tennis Dubai»
Romanian world number one Iga Świętık. Cinematographer: Patrick Castillo
Romania's Sorana beat Brazil's Maya Haddad 2-1. Cinematographer: Patrick Castillo
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Polish world number one Iga Świętek launches today, the dream of crowning the «Dallah Dubai», when she begins her career by meeting Canadian Leila Fernandez, ranked 37 in the world, in a match that brings them together for the second round in the «Dubai Tennis», currently held in its 23rd edition, and extending until 25 January at the courts of «Dubai Duty Free» in Al Garhoud, with a total prize pool of $ 2.9 million, with the participation of elite professional tennis stars, led by 17 of the top 20 players in the world.
The young Polish star Świřtek (21 years old), crowned the day before yesterday, with her second consecutive title in the Doha International Championship, during her third appearance in Dubai, aspires to add the 13th title in her career and her first in "Dubai Tennis", after her farewell last year from the second round, and preceded him by exiting the third round in the 2021 edition.
Šviontek confirmed her determination to continue to provide a strong performance, and strive for the Dubai title, and said in a press statement: «I look forward to smiling at me on the third attempt in Dubai, and crowning her title, which comes days after I was crowned for the second year in a row in the Doha Championship».
She added: "The challenges are great in Dubai, whether because I did not get enough time to train, or adapt to the new pitches of the stadium, and even in the different balls used here and similar to the quality of the balls in the American Indiana Wells championships, compared to the balls that were relied on in the Doha tournament similar in quality to those that were used last month at the Australian Open."
Šviontek pointed out that she continues to rely on the same style of performance that she adopted last season without any significant changes, and said: «I had an exceptional and distinguished year, and I did not make any significant adjustments to my style of play, whether serving or moving on the pitch, and I look forward in 2023 to continue to perform strongly and achieve good results».
She explained: «I have not yet reached the peak of my performance, and I am still working on developing my performance, as there are many ancient and beloved tournaments to my heart that I aspire to win the title».
She concluded: "There are many top seeds expected to meet here in Dubai, they have relied on developing their style of play, and the ambitions are legitimate for everyone to compete and win, and we have to wait until the matches will turn out."
Sorana and Mushuva score the first surprises of the tournament
Romanian Cerstya Sorana, ranked 70 in the world, and Czech Caroline Muchova, ranked 112 in the world, succeeded in recording the first surprises of the 23rd edition in the «Dubai Tennis» for professional players, by overcoming, yesterday, the obstacle of the first round, with the victory of Romanian Sorana on the world ranked 12 Brazilian Maya Haddad by two sets for one group, before the Czech Mušova achieved her victory over the 44th seed over the American Bernard Pera by two sets without a response.
Sorana needed three hours and 32 minutes to achieve her difficult victory, after a first set whose result went in favor of her rival Haddad (6-4), before Sorana was able to narrowly settle the break of serve and snatch the second set (7-6), and complete her journey towards winning the third set (7-5).
In a match that was limited to 75 minutes, Czech Mušová had no trouble clinching the first set in her favor (6-1), before struggling to beat American Bernard in the second set (6-4), which led her to win the match and set up a date with Sorana in the second round of the tournament.