Caroline Garcia suffered an early exit at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, losing in straight sets to Lulu Sun, while 17-year-old Wakana Sonobe produced another superb display, defeating Yue Yuan as she progressed to the last 16 on an action-packed day three in the UAE capital.
Sonobe’s excellent form continued in the day’s opening match on Stadium Court as the 17-year-old recorded her third straight-sets victory in as many days, this coming just over one week since she lifted the girls’ singles title at the Australian Open.
Having dispatched Hailey Baptiste and Cristina Bucsa in qualifying, the Japanese youngster faced China’s Yuan in the Round of 32, and the match followed a similar pattern to the previous two, with Sonobe full of confidence and too hot to handle.
After taking the first set 6-4, Sonobe trailed 3-2 in the second, before producing a magnificent period of tennis in which she won four straight games, breaking her opponent’s serve twice to claim another hugely impressive 6-4, 6-3 victory.
French star Garcia’s tournament came to a premature conclusion following a disappointing performance against New Zealander Sun, who went into the match having lost her previous seven Main Draw matches.
Confidence was certainly not a problem for the 23-year-old, however, who totally dominated early on and dropped just a single game on her way to taking the first set.
The second was slightly more evenly matched as Garcia, WTA Finals champion in 2022, sensed the need for an improvement, but Sun was far more assured and never seriously looked in any trouble, eventually taking just 75 minutes to seal a 6-1, 6-3 victory, her first since last August.
Ashlyn Krueger came out on top in a highly entertaining all-American contest against McCartney Kessler.
After Krueger, 20, had taken the first set comfortably, it was a far more even battle in the second, which was eventually settled via a tie-break, edged by Kessler.
Krueger, though, recomposed herself in the final set and produced some fantastic tennis to secure a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 triumph.
Krueger is joined in the last 16 by compatriot Katie Volynets, who came from behind to defeat Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal on Court 1.
Kartal, 23, won the first set but her opponent, of the same age, fought back brilliantly and progressed to the next round courtesy of a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
In the final singles match of the day, Veronika Kudermetova overturned a one-set deficit to beat Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-1, 7-6.
In addition to the singles action, day three marked the start of the doubles competition, with wins for Jelena Ostapenko/Ellen Perez, who defeated Linda Noskova/Yulia Putintseva, and Marketa Vondrousova/Laura Samson, conquerors of Sofia Kenin/ Magda Linette.
In the day’s other doubles match, Olivia Nicholls/Olivia Gadecki came out on top in a thrilling encounter against Wu Fang-Hsien/JiangXinyu, winning 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
JABEUR AND RADUCANU SET FOR ACTION
Stadium Court plays host to an intriguing encounter between three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur and 2017 French Open winner, Jelena Ostapenko, in the pick of tomorrow’s matches, while it’s a battle of the Grand Slam winners as 2021 US Open champion, Emma Raducanu, takes on 2023 Wimbledon winner, Vondrousova.
Winner of the maiden Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in 2023, Belinda Bencic, 2020 Australian Open champion, Kenin, and Grand Slam finalist, Leylah Fernandez, are also in action,
