A roaring crowd draped in Philippine colors helped set the tone for the opening day of women’s week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, as Alexandra Eala and Leylah Fernandez both booked places in the second round under very different circumstances at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
Eala, the 20-year-old World No40 and the highest-ranked Filipino in WTA history, made a winning Dubai debut after American Hailey Baptiste was forced to retire during their first-round clash. Baptiste, ranked World No39, entered the draw as a lucky loser despite falling to Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova in the final qualifying round on Saturday.
The match drew a near-capacity Sunday evening crowd, with Filipino fans creating an atmosphere that lifted Eala from the opening games. After early breaks were exchanged, Eala gained control late in the first set and closed it out 6-4 with a composed service hold.
Baptiste managed to take the first game of the second set before pulling out with a left abdominal injury, handing Eala the win and sending her through to a second-round meeting with World No8 and sixth seed.
“No-one likes advancing in this way,” Eala said. “Being on Tour, I am starting to discover how difficult it is to maintain your health physically. I’m really hoping that Hailey will bounce back soon.”
Turning to the crowd, she added: “I’m super happy to be in the next round. This tournament is serving up such great experiences for me, especially playing in front of the best crowd ever. Hello everyone, hello Kabayans! I’m very happy to advance to the next round.”
Earlier, Fernandez, ranked World No27, delivered one of the day’s longest battles by outlasting Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, the World No17 and 13th seed, in a nearly three-hour three-set match.
Samsonova edged the opening set 7-5, but Fernandez responded with a gritty second set performance, building a 5-2 lead before the Russian erased the deficit to level at 5-5. Fernandez then steadied herself, held serve, and immediately broke to take the set 7-5 and force a decider.
Fernandez opened the third set with a 2-0 advantage and later surged to a commanding 5-0 lead, capitalizing on Samsonova’s growing unforced errors. Samsonova mounted a late push by taking three straight games, but Fernandez recovered her rhythm and held serve to finish the upset.
“It definitely felt different tonight,” Fernandez said. “I remember the past couple of years I’ve played day matches, sometimes first on, so there wasn’t a lot of fans. Today, there were a lot more and to see so many fans come watch women’s tennis means a lot, it shows the sport is growing, so I’m very happy.”
When asked about feeling at home in Dubai, she added: “Yeah, actually – kind of. It does feel nice because you kind of feel at home. It helps a lot. Sometimes when you’re travelling so much you forget why you play tennis and fans always help you to remember. To feel that warmth, that love, and the passion that they have is a lot of fun.”
The final match of the night saw Czech player Sara Bejlek, ranked World No38, cruise past Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez 6-2, 6-2 in just 75 minutes.
Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu is among the major names scheduled to play on Monday, with a first-round match against Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto set for 3 p.m. on Court Two.
