Konta cruises into quarter-finals
● Straight-sets win for Briton sets up last-eight meeting with Kasatkina
Johanna Konta is through to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Championships after a straight-sets win against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The British No 1, making her debut in Dubai after being drafted in as a wildcard, edged a tight first set on a tie-break before making shorter work of the second set to win 7-6 (7/2), 6-2.
Pavlyuchenkova struck first with a break to lead 4-2, but Konta found a rhythm with her serve and levelled things up in the eighth game of the match. Konta survived several break points in the next game, which had eight deuce points and lasted just under 14 minutes, before Pavlyuchenkova went to pieces in the tie-break and at the beginning of the second set.
The Russian served five double faults in nine service points during the breaker and the opening game of the second set, which Konte won to love.
Konte broke again in the fifth game to take a 4-1 lead and she will play Pavlyuchenkova’s Russian compatriot Daria Kasatkina in the last eight.
Kasatkina inflicted former champion Agnieszka Radwanska’s first loss in the first round at the event for nine years, defeating the Pole 7-5, 6-4 in two hours.
Radwanska, who reached No 2 in the rankings in 2012 after winning in Dubai and finishing runner-up at Wimbledon, had a frustrating 2017 due to a foot injury and a virus scare and didn’t feel healthy until the end of the year.
Radwanska lost the decisive break in the 11th game of the first set from 40-15 up.
Kasatkina broke the Pole twice more to lead 3-0 but Radwanska came back to level. She lost her serve again to go down 5-4 and Kasatkina served out.
Radwanska said getting back into the top ten was her goal for 2018, but the winner of 20 WTA titles admitted it was going to be difficult.
“Well, physically, I am actually feeling much better than last year. November, December and January, it took me those three months just to be healthy again, get back to my weight. But everything takes time,” she said.
“It’s tougher than it was before, especially playing against the young ones. You are playing longer, good matches, which is tough physically and mentally.”
Eighth-seed Kristina Mladenovic of France was sent packing by Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka, 6-2, 6-2.
Elena Vesnina, of Russia, beat Peng Shuai of China 6-4 7-5 and will play French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who has a bye into the second round.
Petra Kvitova, who rose to ten in the rankings following her second straight tournament win this month at the Doha Open on Sunday, withdrew from Dubai citing a leg injury.