World No 3 Jessica Pegula overcame an early scare to defeat qualifier Ana Bogdan by a score of 6-4, 6-3 and go to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Bogdan of Romania defeated her top-ranked foe in game two and quickly raced to a 3-1 lead, but Pegula then turned on the jets and won five of the next six games to take the opening set.
Attempting to reach a second successive WTA final after her loss to World No 1 Iga Swiatek in Doha last weekend, Pegula remained on top in the second set, closing the match out in just one hour and 36 minutes to become the first name in the Dubai quarter-finals.
“She came out really intense so I really had to raise my level. I’m just glad I was able to come back in that first set and kept my focus,” said Pegula, whose parents own NFL team Buffalo Bills and NHL outfit Buffalo Sabres.
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World No 3 Jessica Pegula is in the quarter-finals.
Madison Keys, a countrywoman of Pegula, kept up her remarkable form by defeating 15th seed Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-1, in just 57 minutes as she attempted to advance to her maiden quarterfinal in Dubai.
With a leg injury, Azarenka appeared to be having trouble moving, but Keys triumphed easily after stunning Caroline Garcia, the fourth seed, in the Round of 32. Keys, a Grand Slam finalist at the US Open, worked really hard to complete the task.
“Obviously not feeling well, but I guess I get to play another match,” said Azarenka. The 27-year-old stated, “I’ll use what I did today and do it again tomorrow. “The only thing you can do in a circumstance like this is concentrate on your own game and make your shots.”
Over on Court One, Karolina Pliskova continued her fine form at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, securing her place in the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Anhelina Kalinina.
Admitting she feels “relaxed” in Dubai, 2015 runner-up Pliskova followed up her emphatic 6-1, 6-2 victory over No 6 seed Maria Sakkari in the Round of 32 with another solid performance against the Ukraine’s Kalinina, who dumped out 10th seed Veronika Kudermetova in her opening match.