Angelique Kerber in crushing form in her Dubai opener
Angelique Kerber lost just three games as she overwhelmed Barbora Strykova in her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships opening match.
The two-time Grand Slam winner required just 59 minutes to claim a 6-2, 6-1 victory and set up a second-round encounter against former Dubai champion Sara Errani, who beat Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-3.
“I think I played a good match. I played a solid match. It’s always tough to play against her. You never know what’ll happen. She’s always a fighter, but I’m happy to won the match in two sets,” Kerber told WTATennis.com.
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia is also through after she beat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-5, and she will face Ekaterina Makarova in the second round after the Russian beat Anastasja Sevastova 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.
“I am definitely very happy with the win, and relieved to get through in two sets because I was up and had a bad game,” Garcia said.
“She kept believing and fighting, so I am happy to be in the second round because she is always a tough player, coming back from injury.”
However, Australian Open semi-finalist Elise Mertens crashed out as she went down 6-3, 6-3 against Cici Bellis while Anett Kontaveit beat former US Open champion Sam Stosur 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.
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