Svitolina marches on, Pliskova suffers shocking Abu Dhabi defeat

The top seed Sofia Kenin finished her second-round duties in Abu Dhabi on Friday, with Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova steeping on the court on Saturday.

The Ukrainian took down the Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-1 in 69 minutes, serving at only 54% but drawing the most from her initial shot. Elina faced only two break points, losing serve once and mounting the pressure on the other side of the court, something Zvonareva couldn't deal with. The Russian lost half of the initial shot points and gave serve away five times from six opportunities offered to the Ukrainian, finishing her campaign in the second round.

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They traded breaks in the opening two games and stayed neck and neck until 4-4 following six commanding holds. Svitolina grabbed a crucial break in game nine and sealed the set with a hold at love, taking 12 of the last 14 points for a massive boost. Elina barely lost a point on serve in set number two, and Vera was far from that pace, suffering three straight losses to propel the rival over the top and into the last 16.

Competing at this level for the first time, the Russian Anastasia Gasanova toppled the 3rd seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 15 minutes! Anastasia never beat a top-100 player before, and this was a remarkable performance considering her experience and the rival on the other side of the net. World no. 292 played well on both the first and second serve and had the upper hand in the crucial moments, repelling the pressure and saving five out of six break chances.

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Pliskova couldn't match those numbers after making too many errors, struggling on the second serve and getting broken four times for an early exit. Gasanova stormed over one of the world's leading players in the opener, barely losing a point on serve and racing into a 4-0 advantage. The Russian sealed the opener with a forehand down the line winner in the eighth game and survived five break chances at 1-2 in set number two.

They traded breaks in games five and eight before Karolina sprayed a forehand error at 4-4 to fall behind. Serving for the victory, Gasanova placed a service winner in game ten to wrap up her early career's most incredible triumph and remain on the title course.

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