Abu Dhabi Open Round-Up: Jabeur ousts rising teen, Fernandez completes Sun surge as Kasatkina beaten by Krueger
WTA
The Quarter-Final line-up continues to take shape at the Abu Dhabi Open with Ons Jabeur, Leylah Fernandez and Ashlyn Krueger finding their spots in the latter stages.
Fernandez cruised through and will face Krueger after easing past Lulu Sun 6-0, 6-3 who snapped a losing streak by seeing off Caroline Garcia but couldn't carry that into her tie with Fernandez. The Canadian saved all three break points she faced in the one hour and 12 minute win.
Sun had seven aces but won just 47.1% of service points and was broken four times on 12 attempts. Fernandez improves to 7-3 on the season and will face Krueger who ousted Daria Kasatkina who is usually a queen of WTA 500 tournaments.
Krueger shook off a quick first set loss to see off the World No.11 in two hours and 20 minutes avenging a loss to Kasatkina also in Abu Dhabi last year. Krueger won for the first time in three career meetings and has already reach three quarter-finals this year. One of the fastest rising stars on the tour right now, the 20-year-old continues to make waves and has seen off Kasatkina here.
From one incredible rising talent to another as Ons Jabeur held off 17-year-old qualifier Wakana Sonobe 6-3, 6-3. She matches her result from last year where she also reached the Quarter-Finals and she now faces Elena Rybakina who prevailed past Katie Volynets earlier today. They also sit in the section with Belinda Bencic who eased past Veronika Kudermetova.
Sonobe will take a lot of solace from her run after winning the Australian Open girls title last month but it was the day of Jabeur.
"[This season] I was really trying to focus on myself, trying to be healthier on the court," Jabeur said. "But at the same time not really care about the results, and try to just enjoy my time on the court.
"I do put a lot of pressure on myself, also that I was trying to get rid of. So I’m not [doing] anything specific, just enjoying my time to play and obviously always be hungry to win."
oh Ons that's off the charts 😍#MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen | @Ons_Jabeur pic.twitter.com/jYwtfe4ft5
— wta (@WTA) February 5, 2025
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mandoist04-02-2025 - It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
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