The National's Ahmed Rizvi and Jon Turner are at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to bring you live reports from the WTA tournament action.
Chia-Jung Chuang and Darija Jurak d Sara Errani and Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7, 7-6, 10-7
DUBAI // Chia-Jung Chuang and Darija Jurak, playing together for the first time, saved five match points to deny Sara Errani’s bid for a Dubai double with a 5-7, 7-6, 10-7 win in the doubles semi-final.
Errani, who has 25 doubles titles on her CV, was bidding to become the first woman since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004 to feature in both the singles and doubles final following her win over Elina Svitolina in the singles semis, and the Italian, playing alongside another experienced doubles campaigner in Suarez Navarro, looked well on course after taking the first set 7-5.
The duo then raced out of the blocks in the second set, taking a 4-0 lead, but lost their way as Chuang and Jurak fought back, saving five match points and breaking the Italian-Spanish duo three times and saving five match points to force the set into a tie-break.
Errani and Suarez Navarro took early charge of the tie-break as well, racing to a 5-3 lead, but Chuang and Jurak again fought back to win the final four points and force a super tie-break, where the Chinese Taipei and Croatian pair bounced back from 2-4 down to win 10-7 and book their place in the final.
If Errani had reached the doubles final as well, she would have been contesting in both the singles and doubles titles for the eighth time in her career.
Sara Errani d Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4
Sara Errani, the 2013 finalist, is through to the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships following a 6-4, 6-4 win over Elina Svitolina in the first semi-final of the day.
Errani, the world No 22, clinched the first set after an engrossing 55-minute battle, which saw two exchange of serves before the Italian got the crucial break in the ninth game and then served out for the set.
There was an exchange of serve in the middle of the second set as well, but then Errani took charge with a break in the seventh game and then served out for the match, Svitolina hitting long on first match point.
Errani, the world No 7 at the time, had lost 2-6, 6-1, 1-6 to Petra Kvitova in the 2013 final.
Barbora Strycova defeated Ana Ivanovic to reach today’s match of the day – the other semi-final featuring Elina Svitolina and Sara Errani – with Ahmed Rizvi offering his thoughts:
Barbora Strycova is looking forward to her battle with young gun Caroline Garcia in today’s semi-final after dismissing crowd favourite Ana Ivanovic in straight sets last night.
Strycova, who beat Garbine Muguruza in straight sets on her way to the fourth round at the Australian Open last month, dished out a similar treatment to Ivanovic, a former world No 1, in a 7-6, 6-3 win and now she meets the Frenchwoman, who she has beaten in their last three matches, including the first round of this year’s opening grand slam.
“I’m playing Caroline tomorrow,” said Strycova, who will be bidding to make her first final since Luxembourg in October, 2014. “She’s a young gun and I’m looking forward for that.
“I played her last in the Australian Open. I won that match, but it wasn’t easy. Totally different conditions here, so we will see.”
Strycova, however, will carry a lot of confidence to the court after a dogged performance against Ivanovic, especially in the first set tie-break, where she came back from 3-5 down to win 7-5.
“When I was 5-3 down, I was playing a little bit like didn’t believe that I can do it, so I changed that,” said Strycova, 29. “I played very well the last four balls. That gave me so much confidence for the second set.”
Garcia, meanwhile, will be making her first semi-final appearance at a Premier-level tournament following a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andrea Petkovic.
“It’s good start to the year, but, like, I was in Perth [Hopman Cup], I won three matches, but doesn’t bring me any points,” said Garcia, ranked No 38. “I won two singles in Fed Cup, but same, doesn’t give me any points.
“It’s good now that I won some matches on the WTA Tour and yeah, I got a lot of confidence. I know my game is here. It’s never easy, so it’s good when everything comes together.”
Match of the day
Caroline Garcia (FRA) v Barbora Strycova (CZE)
Difficult to pick between the two semi-finals but given the form of these two players this tournament, this has the potential to be a really fascinating contest. Garcia, the world No 38, has arguably played the best tennis of the week, defeating third seed Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round and Andrea Petkovic yesterday. Meanwhile, Strycova, the world No 47, produced a fine display to defeat Ana Ivanovic last night. Garcia will start as favourite but Strycova has proved it unwise to write her off.
Order of play
From 2pm: Sara Errani (ITA) vs Elina Svitolina (UKR)
Not before 5pm: Sara Errani (ITA) / Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) vs Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) / Darija Jurak (CRO)
Not before 7pm: Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)
After suitbale rest: Timea Babos (HUN) / Julia Goerges (GER) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA) / Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
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