Tunisian teenager Ons Jabeur provided the first upset of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships when she knocked out the No1 seed in the qualifying draw, Jie Zheng, in straight sets Saturday afternoon.
Playing only her second ever WTA event (she was granted a wild card into the Qatar Open main draw last week), the 17-year-old Roland Garros junior champion dominated Zheng 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to set up a second round qualifying match with the Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus.
Jabeur looked on her way to an easy rout when she led Zheng – a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist – 6-3, 5-2, but the Chinese world No33 fought back to level the second set to 5-5.
Jabeur however was unfazed by the momentum shift and responded with nerves of steel as she held her own service game to love to go up 6-5 and she maintained her focus through the tie-breaker to finish off Zheng – who is 11 years her senior – and inch closer to a spot in the main draw.
“I played Zheng in doubles in Doha last week, and I noticed she wasn’t a very difficult opponent. So I was actually motivated heading into this match,” Jabeur told Sport360 after her win.
“I was focused throughout the match even though I choked a little bit in the second set.
“When she came back at 5-5 I kept thinking I have to step inside the court and play some good tennis. She was standing way behind the baseline and thankfully I managed to be aggressive and dictate play.”
Second seed Polona Hercog was troubled by Kristina Mladenovic but managed to go through 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 while India’s Sania Mirza was sent packing by Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Jabeur plays Rus second on Court 7 today (from a noon start), following the first round qualifying match between Austrian Tamira Paszek and Australian Anastasia Rodionova.
