The teenage duo will join a field of 120 golfers from 43 APGC member nations in the tournament that concludes on Sunday
World No3 Coco Gauff held her nerve in front of an expectant Centre Court crowd at Dubai Tennis Stadium tonight, fighting back from a set down to seal a nail-biting three-set win (2-6, 6-4 6-3) over the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova.
With several seeds already ruthlessly dispatched by lesser-ranked opponents at this week’s WTA 1000 event, reigning US Open champion Gauff narrowly avoided becoming the latest big-name casualty as she moved into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals after a rollercoaster tie that kept fans fixed to the edge of their seats.
As big names continued to fall in the hyper-competitive WTA 1000 event, Gauff progresses into a quarterfinal clash with Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated 2022 Dubai champion and World No9 Jelena Ostapenka 6-4, 7-5 earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, world number one Iga Swiatek was too strong for Elina Svitolina as the Polish superstar won 6-1, 6-4 to enter the quaterfinals.
Joining Gauff and Kalinskaya in the last eight are No7 seed Marketa Vondrousova, who won six consecutive games while breezing past 12th seed Liudmilla Samsonova 6-2, 6-2, and Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who defeated World No2 Aryna Sabalenka’s second round conqueror Donna Vekic 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Earlier in the afternoon, Jasmine Paolini said she was “really confident” about her chances of further success in Dubai after knocking out No8 seed Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. The 28-year-old’s latest victory over top-15 opposition – the Italian’s 27th on hard courts in the last calendar year – followed an impressive straight sets win against Canadian Leylah Fernandez on Tuesday, and a first round win over No11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Paolini admitted she is in strong spirits ahead of a quarterfinal clash with No4 seed Elena Rybakina, who triumphed 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 over Poland’s Magdalena Frech today. “Yeah, I feel really confident,” said Paolini. “I don't think about my opponent’s ranking, I just think about what I have to do on the court. I'm really confident and looking forward to the next match.”
Ahead of the hotly anticipated quarterfinal clash, Rybakina is unwilling to put herself under any unnecessary pressure following a 17th victory this year: “Well, I'm happy that I'm still winning matches,” said the Kazakh star, who won the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and reached the final in Qatar last week. “I don't know how much I can push and how much I can recover in this half-day, but it's a good problem to have as no one expected me to play so many matches in the past two weeks.”
The teenage duo will join a field of 120 golfers from 43 APGC member nations in the tournament that concludes on Sunday
“It has been a privilege to witness and contribute to the growth of both Dubai and the golf industry here,” said McMurdo as he reflected on his time at Dubai's famous Resort Golf Course
The second season will see six teams vying for the honours in London after the inaugural season was won by Triveni Continental Kings in Dubai last year
The champion of this week's tournament will earn invites to both The Masters and The Open
His strategy involves investing in modern amenities, expanding instructional programs, and highlighting the course's unique features in Dubai's competitive golf landscape
Rory McIlroy will be joined by several stars including UAE-based Tommy Fleetwood at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland
A 32-year-old Dubai Golden Visa Awardee, Stalter has three professional wins including the 2020 Euram Bank Open and two Challenge Tour titles
There will also be a live music concert alongside the thrilling Padel action