DUBAI: Defending champion Mirra Andreeva was among a raft of top seeds that moved menacingly into striking position at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, with a star-studded quarterfinal lineup setting up a thrilling denouement to the WTA 1000 event.
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With nine seeded players swelling the competition in today’s round of 16, and only two matches pitting seed against seed, five daylight matches ultimately saw most fancied favorites progress to the quarterfinals.
In the opening match on Centre Court, Amanda Anisimova, the tournament’s second seed and the World No. 6, took only 70 minutes to dispose of Indonesian wildcard Janice Tjen 6-1, 6-3, in what was the reigning Wimbledon champion’s first match of the tournament.
After receiving a bye in the round of 64, Anisimova was subsequently handed a walkover in the round of 32 when Barbora Krejcikova withdrew due to injury. The well-rested American’s reward for her ruthless dismantling of Tjen is a quarterfinal clash with fifth seed Mirra Andreeva, who edged out Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 7-5, 6-3, in the second match on Centre Court.
