Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur reached the quarter-finals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open by defeating 17-year-old Wakana Sonobe in straight sets 6-3 6-3 which sets up her against reigning champion Elena Rybakina who defeated Katie Volynets after trailing behind.
USA’s Ashlyn Krueger delivered arguably the day’s best performance with her stunning comeback victory over former runner-up Daria Kasatkina while Belinda Bencic and Leylah Fernandez advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Veronika Kudermetova and Lulu Sun respectively.
Jabeur reached the last 16 through an impressive win against Jelena Ostapenko yet encountered a unique test when she played against rising star Sonobe who had secured two qualifying victories before defeating Yue Yan in the Round of 32 following her Australian Open girls’ singles win.
Both competitors started off the match confidently but Sonobe’s early performance eventually showed her inexperience when she lost her last three service games in the first set which resulted in a 1-0 deficit.
Sonobe managed to break Jabeur at the start of the second set but the Tunisian former World Number. 2 player swiftly regained control of the match by breaking her opponent twice to secure a 6-3, 6-3 win before facing Rybakina in a rematch of the 2022 Wimbledon final.
Looking ahead to the match, Jabeur, the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final, said: “It’s going to be a tough match. Elena demonstrates excellent skill while playing and she expresses great enjoyment when competing on this surface. My plan is to give my best effort while concentrating on my personal development and improving my court performance.
Rybakina had to fight back from a deficit during her initial appearance at this year’s tournament when she defeated Volynets.
Rybakina lost the opening game on serve which allowed USA’s Volynets to seize control and maintain it throughout the first set which she won 6-2 in a stunning performance.
Rybakina deserved her championship title due to her powerful comeback which took the second set 6-4 and followed it with an identical victory in the third set to lead her defence of the crown perfectly.
Bencic who won the 2023 title demonstrated the most commanding performance of the day by sweeping Kudermetova 6-0, 6-0 in under an hour while Rybakina played to defend her title from last year.
Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion who bested Emma Raducanu before defeating Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3 at Stadium Court, will play against Bencic next.
Fernandez earned her quarterfinal spot by defeating Lulu Sun in a straightforward match where Sun showed minimal opposition especially during the first set which Fernandez won without losing any game.
Sun elevated her performance during the second set but Fernandez remained superior throughout by delivering numerous impressive shots and finished with a commanding 6-0, 6-3 win.
After her stunning comeback against Kasatkina she will play against Krueger in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
After losing the first set without winning a game, 20-year-old Krueger regained her composure and fought back to achieve a remarkable 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.
The doubles team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova lost to Heather Watson and Luisa Stefani in straight sets during Wednesday’s match.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and fellow American Sofia Kenin won the doubles competition in the previous season. Her dreams of back-to-back victories ended when Watson/Stefani clinched a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez defeated Hao Ching-Chan and Liudmila Samsonova in a heavily skewed tie-break.
The match was tied until the tie-break occurred when Babos and Melichar-Martinez dominated with a 10-1 win.
Ulrikke Eikeri/Makoto Ninomiya advanced to join the quarterfinals after defeating Desirae Krawczyk/Giuliana Olmos with a score of 6-4, 6-0.