Elena Rybakina and Paula Badosa enjoyed a triumphant day at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai and now they are set to face in the round-of-16.
After a first-round bye, the sixth-seeded Kazakh ousted qualifier Moyuka Uchijama 6-3 6-2 in her opening match.
On the other side, the Spanish tennis star dismantled Elise Mertens 6-2 6-1.
Now, those two will battle for a place in the Doha quarterfinal.
When Rybakina and Badosa meet, it will be the eighth time that they will be facing each other.
Going into the match, the ninth-seeded Spaniard owns a 4-3 head-to-head.
However, it should be noted that the Kazakh won their last two meetings, which took place in 2023 Indian Wells and Miami.
How Rybakina, Badosa won their Doha second-round matches?
After claiming a break in the second game of the match, the 2022 Wimbledon champion then just held on to her serve for the rest of the first set to bag the opener.
Then, she started the second set with back-to-back breaks and a comfortable 4-0 lead before serving out for the match in the eighth game.
A day earlier, Uchijama upset Jelena Ostapenko.
But on Tuesday, the Kazakh tennis star didn’t allow any upsets to happen.
70 – Elena Rybakina has claimed her 70th WTA 1000 main draw win in 97 matches played since picking up her first in Wuhan 2019. Among active players, only Venus Williams (88), Iga Świątek (88), and Caroline Wozniacki (94) reached 70 wins in fewer matches. Progression.#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/Vb493gXrTz
— OptaLena (@OptaLena) February 18, 2025
Meanwhile, Badosa routinely won the first set of her match with breaks in the second and eighth games.
The Spaniard made a lightning start to the second set as well, going 5-0 up before sealing the deal in the seventh game.
Tennis World USA