Sports News | Coco Gauff Leads Upsets in Dubai, Top-seeded Svitolina Loses

Dubai, Mar 10 (AP) American teen Coco Gauff led a day of upsets in the second round of the Dubai Championships, when top-seeded Elina Svitolina lost and Petra Kvitova dropped out with a hip problem.

The 16-year-old Gauff fought back to defeat 12th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 to set up a third-round clash with Tereza Martincova, who upset the fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens 6-1, 6-4.

Svetlana Kuznetsova upset two-time champion Svitolina 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, completing her comeback win in just under two hours and will face Barbora Krejcikova in the third round. The Czech defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-1.

Another teenager, 19-year-old Anastasia Potapova, defeated 11th-seeded Madison Keys 6-4, 6-3.

Kvitova, who defeated Garbiñe Muguruza to win the Qatar Open on Saturday, retired Tuesday with Jil Teichmann leading 6-2, 3-4. Kvitova said she's had an adductor problem since the semifinal in Doha.

French Open champion Iga Swiatek eased past lucky loser Misaki Doi, 6-2, 6-4 for a third-round clash with Muguruza, who defeated American teenager Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 6-2.

The second-seeded Karolina Pliskova had to dig hard for a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win over Anastasija Sevastova and the sixth-seeded Belinda Bencic also had a tough match in beating Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Bencic needed five match points to seal her win.

Elise Mertens defeated Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-3, but another American, Jessica Pegula, prevailed with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kristina Mladenovic.

There were wins, too, for Caroline Garcia, Anett Kontaveit, Aryna Sabalenka, and Ons Jabeur. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)