World No 1 Iga Swiatek continued her dominant form, while Aryna Sabalenka made it 12-0 for the year as they both recorded quick wins at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Swiatek, who successfully defended her title at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Saturday, claimed her fourth straight match without losing more than three games as she crushed former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-1 6-1 in 72 minutes.
The Pole will take on Lyudmila Samsonova next after the Russian received a walkover when her opponent Zheng Qinwen was forced to pull out of their contest due to abdominal pain.
“It wasn’t that easy for sure. It was much tougher than the score said,” Swiatek said.
“In the second set, I needed to go a level up. I didn’t have much time to get used to the conditions, but I’m just happy I could play solid tennis.”
World No 2 Sabalenka, playing her first tournament since she won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month, extended her winning streak to 12-0 for the year after a quick-fire 6-0 6-1 win over Lauren Davis.
Czech Karolina Pliskova upset world No 7 Maria Sakkari 6-1 6-2 in 69 minutes, while Madison Keys shocked fourth seed Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-4.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Jessica Pegula, Victoria Azarenka, Peter Kvitov and Jelena Ostapenko.
Swiss star Belinda Bencic beat Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in three hours and 27 minutes, meaning five of the longest WTA main-draw matches of the year have taken place in the last three days.
