News24
19 Feb 2020, 01:13 GMT+10
Dubai - Sofia Kenin lost her first WTA match since winning the Australian Open earlier this month as she went down 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-3 to Elena Rybakina on Tuesday at the Dubai Championships.
World No 7 Kenin's loss completed a hat-trick of seeded upsets on the fourth day of action in the United Arab Emirates.
Title holder Belinda Bencic was overhauled 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova while third seed and two-time tournament winner Elina Svitolina was hammered 6-2, 6-1 by qualifier Jennifer Brady.
Kenin played a pair of non-Tour Fed Cup matches immediately after her Melbourne win over Garbine Muguruza, who cut short Kim Clijsters' comeback on Monday.
The 21-year-old went down in just over two hours to her 19th-ranked opponent who stood 192nd in the world a year ago.
Kenin got away to an early break but lost it and had to win the first set in a tiebreaker. Rybakina then dominated the next two sets to reach the second round where she will face Russian Katerina Siniakova.
Kazakh Rybakina won the Hobart title in January and reached the final last weekend in St Petersburg.
"I prepared with good practice. I didn't expect that I would win. I tried to do my best," she said.
"I wasn't nervous (after flying here from Russia) at all because I knew it's going to be tough.
"I didn't think about that she just won the Australian Open, I know that now everyone can beat everyone," she added.
Earlier, Bencic ran off the first 19 points against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before collapsing to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 loss.
Pavlyuchenkova could not have made a worse start before advancing in 92 minutes.
"It's tennis, sometimes it happens," the 31st-ranked Russian said.
"You go out there and you just don't feel anything. I just kept on fighting, still trying to hit every ball, trying to be there.
"Slowly I started to turn it around, I started to find my game. In the third set, it was a good level from both of us."
The shock defeats leaves the spotlight to tournament No 1 Simona Halep and second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who begin in the second round after byes.
Weekend ATP Rotterdam winner Gael Monfils watched in pain as girlfriend Svitolina went down to Brady.
Svitolina had little to offer as the 52nd-ranked Brady gained her second victory this season over a Top 10 opponent after beating Ashleigh Barty in Brisbane.
The Ukrainian's usually steady game was nowhere to be found at the Aviation Club as first-round play concluded.
"It was not a bad start, but then everything just went downhill," Svitolina said.
"I wish I could regroup better. In the end, I didn't feel so good the ball. Just everything was all over the place today.
"Before I was more composed with my game. Now it's little bit of a struggle. Maybe mentally or something."
Brady, a qualifier with three matches already here, said her own attitude as the underdog may have helped.
"I'm respecting my opponent, but not to the point where I put her on a pedestal.
"I was just focused on my game plan, myself, I competed well from the very beginning.
"From the start, maybe she felt my presence. I was happy with the way I performed."
Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic beat fellow qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 6-3 to set up a second-round date with Pliskova.
Jennifer Brady (USA) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR x3) 6-2, 6-1
Anett Kontaveit (EST) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 6-1, 6-3
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) bt Karolna Muchova (CZE) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationMADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Paramount has agreed to pay US$16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over...
LONDON, U.K.: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer won a vote in Parliament this week to move ahead with changes to the country's welfare...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. President...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Tánaiste Simon Harris has called on the United States to use every hour to reach a zero-for-zero tariff agreement...
DUBLIN, Ireland: A blind woman from Dublin says she was hurt while getting off a bus because the driver refused to pull in close to...
DUBLIN, Ireland: The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned that there could be a serious trolley crisis this summer...
ISTANBUL/PARIS/BRUSSELS: As searing temperatures blanket much of Europe, wildfires are erupting and evacuation orders are being issued...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: The U.S. dollar continues to lose ground, weighed down by growing concerns over Washington's fiscal outlook...