German rising star Julia Goerges pulled off an impressive comeback to upset three-time runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday.
The world No.19 was trailing Kuznetsova 6-2, 3-1 before she rallied back to complete a 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory – her first over the Russian in three meetings.
New rankings were announced this morning and for the first time in 24 years, four German ladies are in the top 20 in the world, and what better way for Goerges to celebrate that feat than to beat a former No.2 and two-time Grand Slam champion in the first round.
Kuznetsova started off well, clearly unfazed by the cold and windy conditions, as she raced to take the first set in 33 minutes. The 26-year-old looked like she was on her way to an easy win when she broke Goerges in the opening game of the second set, but a comfortable hold to love from the German in the fifth game to make it 2-3, was the beginning of a strong fightback as she broke Kuznetsova in the following game to level to 3-3.
The pair exchanged breaks in the following two games but Goerges dominated the tie-break opening up a 6-0 lead, and an inside-out forehand winner was all she needed to take the set and force a decider.
Kuznetsova recovered her form in the third set, which was a tight affair all the way until the ninth game, where Goerges took her chance and broke for 5-4 and the 23-year-old held her nerve to serve it out and set up a second-round meeting with top-seed Victoria Azarenka.
“It wasn’t best beginning of me, but one of the best beginnings of her probably. She just kind of overwhelmed me with her shots,” said Goerges after her win. “Then I just tried to get back into the match somehow, playing more balls in the court, and fighting for every ball. I got my chance and I took it.”
The second match of the night session saw No.8 seed Jelena Jankovic outclass Czech world No.30 Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-2 in 73 minutes. The Dubai resident is coming off a leg injury she picked up during Fed Cup two weeks ago, and said she still has a 1-cm muscle tear which requires some heavy strapping.
Jankovic next takes on Italian Flavia Pennetta, who overcame the gusty weather to beat Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3 . Pennetta said: “When the weather is like this it’s not easy to control the ball, so I was trying to be really aggressive to hit the ball. Because when you try just to put the ball in the court it’s flying too much. So it’s better if you just go for the shot and not wait."
Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani fell in straight sets to Shahar Peer while Russian Maria Kirilenko opened the action on Centre Court with a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 rout of Monica Niculescu of Romania.
Centre Court action kicks off today at 2pm with No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska against Aleksandra Wozniak.
