Elena Ruse stuns Paula Badosa in Dubai

Elena Ruse complicated things quite a bit but still rallied in time to send Paula Badosa to an early trip to Doha.

The Spaniard arrived in Dubai having not played since the Australian and naturally there was some rust present. Badosa broke her opponent in the first game but lost her serve in the very next game. Ruse plays a very attacking style and it trouble Badosa greatly, especially on her 2nd serve. She won only 3/11 points and she got broken once more.

Ruse finished off the first set with 6-3. In the 2nd set players mostly were very good on their own serve. Both Badosa and Ruse had no issues winning their serves early on in the set. Badosa forced the first break point at 4-3 for her but Ruse saved it. In the next game, Ruse actually broke Badosa taking the 5-4lead with a chance to close out the match.

Ruse played a very lacklustre game and gave Badosa plenty of chances in that game and the Spaniard took it. After making it 5-5, Badosa gained confidence and that allowed her to break Ruse once more and close out the 2nd set with 7-5. Between the sets, Ruse took a short MTO but continued playing. Her level was the same but Badosa was playing better.

Midway through the 3rd, Badosa finally wore down her opponent and took a 3-1 lead. She did not hold it for too long as Ruse battled back to make it 4-4. She then took it a step further by winning the next two games to close out the match and secure the major upset. Badosa was up 4-1 with Ruse winning five games in a row to win it.