DUBAI: Defending Dubai Tennis Championships champion Garbine Muguruza needed three sets to get past Katerina Siniakova and kick off her title defense on Tuesday while the top-seed Aryna Sabalenka joined her in the second round with a straight-sets win over Marta Kostyuk.
2021 champion Muguruza of Spain opened up her title defense with a tricky 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-2 first-round win over Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova.
The number-four seed Muguruza claimed the topsy-turvy affair in 2 hours and 24 minutes, leveling her head-to-head with 45th-ranked Siniakova at two wins apiece.
Muguruza will take on Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the second round. Kudermetova dispatched former World No.1 and 2010 Dubai finalist Victoria Azarenka in straight sets earlier on Tuesday.
No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus was the last player to claim her spot in the second round, winning the late-night match over 19-year-old Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1.
World No.2 Sabalenka battled through a topsy-turvy opening set but righted the ship in the second set, emerging with a 1-hour and 15-minute win over 49th-ranked Kostyuk.
Earlier, qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse scored the biggest win of her career in the first round, coming from 4-1 down in the decider to upset No.3 seed Paula Badosa 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in 2 hours and 32 minutes.
No.10 seed and two-time champion Elina Svitolina also moved into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over wildcard Mayar Sherif in 1 hour and 27 minutes. The Ukrainian, who won Dubai in 2017 and 2018, was too solid for World No.65, who repeatedly overpressed in a bid to keep control of the court.
Elsewhere, a battle of unseeded former Grand Slam champions saw Jelena Ostapenko rout Sofia Kenin 6-1, 6-2 in only 52 minutes. The Latvian fired seven aces and dropped six points behind her first serve. After falling behind by an early break in the second set, Ostapenko raced through the next six games for the loss of six more points.
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