Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – Romania’s recent Fed Cup defeat to the Czech Republic was a bittersweet experience for Simona Halep.

Halep and company went into the tie – their first in World Group I since 1992 – as overwhelming underdogs against the defending champions, only to defy expectations and force a deciding fifth rubber. While this ultimately proved a bridge too far, Halep’s disappointment was tempered by the relief of being able to compete pain-free once again.

This prompted a sudden change in schedule for the World No.3, who had planned to take February and March off to undergo surgery to tackle an ongoing sinus infection. Instead of sitting out her defense of this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Halep accepted a late wildcard to take up a place in the draw. 

“I delayed it because I feel okay now. I got good treatment at home and now I feel that I’m able to play, so I’ve put it off until the end of the year, maybe – I’m not sure exactly when,” Halep said during her All Access Hour in Dubai. “But now I feel good and I want to just keep playing.

“Actually I decided to delay the operation before Fed Cup; I really wanted to play in my country, for my country. So this helped me a lot to get some confidence. I had some good matches and thought that I feel good here [in Dubai] and would play some matches.”

It has been a stuttering start to the campaign for Halep, whose preparations were dealt a couple of body blows: “It started in the beginning of December. I was practicing but it wasn’t easy for me because I got tired very often and very fast. After that I had a stomach infection and I had to take some days off.

“It was tough, I came to Australia still taking antibiotics and it was tough for me to start playing tournaments. Then I had the Achilles injury and then before Melbourne, in Sydney, I got infection of my nose and ear. So it was tough to play, it was tough to stay there focused.”

Despite suffering a couple of surprise losses Down Under – against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Sydney semifinals, then to World No.133 Zhang Shuai at the Australian Open – the 24-year-old is refusing to let hindsight cloud her thoughts. 

“Yes maybe it would’ve been better if I didn’t go to the first tournaments because I had the stomach infection but I thought it was going to be easy. But the jet-lag and everything was tough for me to adapt, it was tough to play,” she added.

“But I don’t want to regret anything and now I’m just keeping an eye on my health more and on enjoying playing.”

Unsurprisingly, given her run to the title 12 months ago and victory in neighboring Doha in 2014, Halep has fond memories of this time of year.

“I’m happy to be back here. It means a lot this tournament because last year I won it. I have great memories from that time – many fans are coming to support me here.

“So I’m looking forward to starting the tournament and that I’m able to play.”

DUBAI, UAE – Ana Ivanovic fired a warning shot to the rest the draw at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday, dismantling Daria Gavrilova in under an hour.

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After a difficult start to the year, Ivanovic showed signs of recovery during a run to the semifinals in St. Petersburg, and carried on from where she left off against Gavrilova.

Ivanovic utilized the fast conditions to devastating effect, 19 winners (offset by just 16 unforced errors) helping her to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

In their previous meeting, last year in Rome, Gavrilova had prevailed in a rollercoaster, but it was clear early on that the rematch would be rather more brief.

A string of unforced errors, culminating in a double fault, saw Gavrilova surrender serve in the second game. While she broke back immediately, the Australian was powerless in the face of Ivanovic’s onslaught.

The former World No.1 struck early in the second set, too, a couple of sweetly timed backhands bringing a break in the first game. With the forehand, usually the barometer for the Serb’s game, also firing on all cylinders, from here a comeback never looked on the cards.

“We played once before and it was a battle on clay, so I knew it was a tough match and I had to step up because I knew she’s a great mover and she strikes the ball really well,” Ivanovic said.

“Here the ball flies a little bit, so I tried to use that to my advantage and move forward a little bit. And I did that very well and was very aggressive on my returns, so overall I’m very happy.”

Her reward is a meeting with defending champion and top seed Simona Halep, an opponent Ivanovic is excited to pit her improving game against.

“Yeah, definitely. You want to play against the best and challenge yourself. We’ve had battles in the past but it’s going to be a tough one.”

Other winners in the afternoon session were Elina Svitolina and Barbora Strycova. In her first match since announcing the addition to Justine Henin to her coaching team, Svitolina was in fine form during a 6-3, 6-1 victory over qualifier Jana Cepelova. The Ukrainian faces No.2 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.

Strycova was pushed slightly harder, eventually seeing off Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-4, 6-3, to set up a clash with Julia Goerges.

For tennis fans, snagging a selfie with their favorite player is the ultimate prize. But what happens when it’s a player asking the fans for selfies?

We sent Jelena Ostapenko on a selfie scavenger hunt through the grounds of the Western & Southern Open. Find out what happened when she ambushed fans, volunteers, and more in search of the ultimate selfie prize.

It’s all in the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free: Always Full Of Surprises!