After Tuesday's madness, Pliskova, Muguruza bring a bit of normalcy to proceedings

Dubai - World No.3 Karolina Pliskova and Spanish ninth seed Garbine Muguruza came through their matches to progress to the quarterfinals.

It certainly didn't feel like a tennis match. It resembled more of a football game. Such was the atmosphere in the stands when top seed and world No.2 Simona Halep went head-to-head against wildcard and Tunisian world No.45 Ons Jabeur in the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday night.
There were flags being waved, songs being sung at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium and both players served up a match that was befitting the occasion. Dubai 2015 winner Halep and Jabeur, the first Arab to reach the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam, went toe-to-toe before the Romanian nicked it 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
Halep went on to avenge the defeat at the hands of Jabeur in Beijing two years ago.
It also meant that Halep, the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon champion, set up a quarterfinal date with seventh seed and world No.13 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
After the madness that was the opening round on Tuesday, where three champions were swallowed, normalcy was restored in the round of 16.
World No.3 Karolina Pliskova and Spanish ninth seed Garbine Muguruza came through their matches to progress to the quarterfinals.
Second seeded Pliskova runner-up to Simona Halep here in 2015, and playing her first match following a bye in the first round breezed past Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and seven minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
Meanwhile, Muguruza, runner-up to Sofia Kenin at the Australian Open, rallied after dropping the second set to nick past Russian qualifier Veronika Kudermetova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that went the distance and took two hours and 25 minutes.
It looked fairly straightforward but Pliskova differed.
"I think the score looked a little bit easier than it really was. I think we had a couple tough games," Pliskova said after the match.
"But overall I think I had it pretty much all the match under my control. Even though she played some great shots, some good serves, I think I was in charge of most of the games," she added.
Pliskova extended her head-to-head wins to 4-2 over Mladenovic. Their previous meeting prior to this had ended in a victory for Pliskova at the Australian Open in January.
Next up for the 27-year-old Czech is a meeting with Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina. Rybakina beat Czech qualifier an injury-prone Katerina Siniakova in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 21 minutes.
Tuesday might have been the day where the giants were slayed but Pliskova was not sweating about her next opponent Rybakina who had felled Sofia Kenin, the newly-crowned Australian Open champion.
"It doesn't really bother me. The top players can lose, as you see it's often happening right now," she said.
"Whoever's going to be there for me, I have to play well. No matter if she's seeded or Grand Slam champion, I still have to do my job," added Pliskova.
Muguruza, meanwhile, was glad to book a berth in the quarterfinals.
"I think she's playing great. Is the first time I have played against her. Nowadays, even if it's not the biggest name, every match is tough," said Muguruza, who had ended former world No.1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters' comeback.
"There's a lot of things that I could have done better. But I'm excited that I gave myself another opportunity to be in the quarterfinals, just staying in the fight because she was playing great, not giving up until the last point," she added.
Muguruza goes up against American qualifier Jennifer Brady, who beat Czech Marketa Vondrousova, for a place in the semifinals.
"Everybody's playing well today. When you're in the quarterfinals, you're playing girls that are going through the tournament. She's playing well. Excited to play her for the first time also, to get to know her tennis," said the world No.16.
james@khaleejtimes.com