By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, February 17, 2025
World No. 47 Peyton Stearns out-dueled Ons Jabeur 7-6(6), 6-4 for her 11th career Top 50-win in Dubai.
Photo credit: Matthew Calvis
Peyton Stearns played heavy spin to bounce fan favorite Ons Jabeur out of the Dubai draw.
Imposing her twisting topspin forehand, Stearns out-dueled Jabeur 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships second round.
Two-time Wimbledon finalist Jabeur served for the first set at 5-4, but Stearns was whipping heavy forehands to convert her fourth break point of the game and break back.
A tense tiebreaker as level at 5-all. On her second set point, Stearns snatched the tiebreaker and a one-set lead.
Stearns, who nearly upset Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 Indian Wells converted three of 11 break points in a one hour, 56-minute victory.
World No. 47 Stearns scored her 11th Top-50 win and will play Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen for a place in the round of 16.
Doha Rise, Dubai Fall
Amanda Anisimova and Jelena Ostapenko made history in the Doha final on Saturday.
Forty-eight hours later, they paid the price.
In the first WTA 1000 final featuring two players ranked outside of the Top 30, Anisimova beat Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3 to become the lowest-ranked woman to in Doha.
Today, Mccartney Kessler stopped Anisimova, 6-2, 6-3, in an all-American opener.
The 25-year-old Kessler advanced to a second-round showdown vs. third-seeded Coco Gauff.
Ostapenko, who crushed world No. 2 Iga Swiatek for the fifth time in as many meetings in Doha, lost today to Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-3, 6-3. That win sends Uchijima into a round of 32 meeting vs. sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina.
Seeds Scattered
Opening Monday was a farewell first round for some seeds.
World No. 31 Anastasia Potapova continued her strong start to the season. Potapova powered through nine consecutive games dismissing 13th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 6-0 in 75 minutes.
Coming off her third career title in Cluj-Napova, Potapova improved to 11-3 on the season. She will face Dayana Yastremska next.
Romanian wild card Sorana Cirstea dismantled Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4.
It is Cirstea’s first Top-20 win since 2024 Rome and sends the 2024 Dubai semifinalist into the round of 32 vs. explosive-serving American Alycia Parks.