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Swiatek, Paolini advance despite rain delays in Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek beat Victoria Azarenka in straight sets
- PUBLISHED: Tue 18 Feb 2025, 10:23 PM
On a day the UAE authorities urged motorists to exercise caution on the roads due to inclement weather, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships also saw long rain delays with players facing agonizing wait in the locker room for matches to resume.
After several weather interruptions, defending champion Jasmine Paolini of Italy was closing in on a straight-set win against German qualifier Eva Lys before the rains appeared again, forcing the players to disappear into the locker room as spectators rushed for cover.
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It took almost five hours for the players to return to the court, despite the tireless efforts from the groundstaff.
Paolini, 29, then wasted no time in finishing off the match with a 6-2 7-5 score to keep her hopes alive of becoming only the fourth player to defend the WTA title in Dubai.
Only the legendary Justine Henin-Hardenne (2003, 2004), Venus Williams (2009, 2010) and Elina Svitolina (2017, 2018), the dazzling Ukrainian shot-maker, have won back-to-back Dubai titles.
Paolini, though, was not looking too far ahead as the late bloomer was just relieved to have overcome her opponent in tricky weather conditions on Tuesday.
“It was a long day. I'm happy that I got the win,” she said.
“I didn't think that much (about the rain). But every second it was raining. Then we started, then we stopped. Then we started, and we stoped again. It was tough.”
Remarkably, world number two Iga Swiatek, who was scheduled to start her match against Victoria Azarenka in the afternoon, could only step onto the centre court after 7:30 pm.
But once her match got under way, the five-time Grand Slam winner produced some scintillating tennis, with her ferocious forehands completely suffocating the veteran Belarusian.
Swiatek raced to a 6-0 6-2 win to set up a round of 16 clash with Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska who managed to win her match against Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-2 6-3.
In the late matches, world number one Aryna Sabalenka beat Russian qualifier Veronika Kudermetova 6-3 6-4 and Czech Republic's Karolína Muchová, the 2023 French Open runner-up, beat British wildcard Emma Raducanu 7-6 (8/6) 6-4.
The organisers had to move a few centre court matches to the side courts to make up for the lost time, but Elena Rybakina and Paula Badosa managed to win their morning matches before the rain played spoilsport.
Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina outplayed Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-3 6-2 to set up with a round of 16 battle with Badosa.
The Spaniard was in brilliant form on Court Three in her morning match, dismantling Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2 6-1.
“Yeah, I was surprised (by the weather) because I live here,” said Badosa who is a Dubai resident.
“I've never seen rain like this (here). So for me it was surprising."
Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.