The Egyptian Mayar bids farewell to “Tennis Dubai” .. and the Tunisian Anas Jaber completes the journey
Egyptian Mayar Sharif.
Photography: Patrick Castillo
Tunisian Anas Jaber.
Photography: Ashok Verma.
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Yesterday, the Arab public experienced contrasting feelings between joy and sadness at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, after the Tunisian ranked 10th, Anas Jaber, qualified for the second round by defeating Russian Vera Zvonareva, ranked 106th in the world, by two groups for one group (6 -2, 2-6, 7-5), on the other hand, Egyptian Mayar Sharif, ranked 65 in the world, lost the championship to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, ranked 15th in the world, in two sets without a response (2-6 and 3-6), for the conclusion of the tournament’s round. It is currently being held in its 22nd edition at the "Dubai Duty Free" stadiums in the Garhoud area of Dubai, and extends until February 19.
The hopes of the Arab masses are now limited to the Tunisian Anas Jaber in the competition for the title of the tournament, which is witnessing the participation of the elite world tennis players, led by eight out of the top 10 ranked women in the world.
And Anas Jaber needed two hours and eight minutes to secure victory over Russian Zvonareva, after a first set, during which Jaber broke her opponent's serve on two occasions, and settled her result in 26 minutes, before the second group witnessed an awakening by Zvonareva and was able to repay the debt to the Tunisian with the same result (6 -2), in a group that extended for 34 minutes, to enter the match in its decisive round, in which Anas needed to break her opponent’s serve in time, and he decided the group with difficulty in an hour and four minutes by (7-5).
The Tunisian star set a date in the next round, today, with American Jessica Pegula, ranked 14th in the world, who secured her qualification yesterday, at the expense of her compatriot Cory Gough, ranked 20, in two sets without a response (6-4) and (6-4).
In a different scenario, the holder of the Dubai Championship for the years 2017 and 2018, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, confirmed her readiness to walk far in the Dubai Championship with the ambition to grab the title for the third time, after she presented a strong match against the Egyptian Mayar Sharif, in a match that lasted for an hour and 25 minutes, after a group that was decided by the Ukrainian by (6-2) in 40 minutes, before Mayar's performance improved in the second set, during which she tried to return, but Sviolina's experience was the decisive factor in snatching the set (6-3) with a time of 47 minutes.
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