DUBAI, February 18, 2025 (Press Release)
With dampened spirits on a drying court, World No. 3 Coco Gauff slumped out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after losing 6-4, 7-5 to fellow American McCartney Kessler at the end of a rain-affected Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, was looking to secure her first WTA 1000 match win of the season, but Kessler won with relative ease, breaking her compatriot early in the opening set and showing strong mental fortitude to immediately break back after Gauff had levelled the second set at 5-5. The win marked the 25-year-old’s first Top 10 victory; she will face Karolina Muchova next after the No. 14 seed beat Emma Raducanu 7-6 (6), 6-4.
Simply Unstoppable
McCartney Kessler upsets the World No. 3 in straight sets after a commanding performance 6-4, 7-5!#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/5Uglitdsuf
— wta (@WTA) February 18, 2025
The third day of the landmark 25th anniversary tournament had started full of promise with all of the world’s top-five ranked players scheduled to get their campaigns under way. Yet before the end of the first of five Centre Court matches, proceedings were at risk of turning into a damp squib when Mother Nature forced a five-hour break in play.
Reigning champion Jasmine Paolini of Italy had successfully negotiated regular rain stoppages to reach match-point against German qualifier Eva Lys. Yet shortly after 2 p.m. and before the Italian had the chance to tie up the win, play was suspended once more when the weather worsened – and this time the players did not return until long after the sun had set.
With such a sizeable break in action, organisers rushed to reschedule an already packed order of play. All doubles matches were postponed, Gauff-Kessler was shifted out to Court One, and World No. 8 Qinwen Zheng’s match with Peyton Stearns was moved to Wednesday as a swarm of staff set about sweeping away standing water and drying the courts’ surfaces with towels.
By 7 p.m., play was ready to resume and fans were treated to the novel spectacle of two professional players returning to Centre Court to play a single point as Lys overhit a forehand to deliver Paolini the victory.
“You know, I was trying not to think too much about it,” Paolini replied when asked how many ways she had envisaged the final match-point playing out. “I was trying to just focus on the return and trying to put the return into the court, then let’s play. It worked. It was a tough day, a very long day, but I’m happy how I managed to get the win.”
Following her victory, World No. 4 Paolini stayed on Centre Court to be part of a special ceremony highlighting the WTA’s 25-year anniversary in Dubai. Portia Archer, CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, presented Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and Chairman of the Tournament Organising Committee, with a special commemorative collage of the 17 previous winners at the Championships – including Paolini, maiden winner Martina Hingis, and seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin. Meanwhile Breeda McLoughlin, wife of the late Colm McLoughlin, the former Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, presented Archer with a commemorative trophy to mark the milestone anniversary.
When the action resumed on Centre Court, World No. 2 Iga Swiatek appeared determined to make up for lost time, needing just 28 minutes to close out her first set against Victoria Azarenka, before finishing the tie with relative ease 6-0, 6-2 and setting up a third-round match with Australian Open 2024 semi-finalist Dayana Yastremska.
“For sure I’m happy we were able to play today and I finished it pretty quickly because the schedule is tight,” said five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek. “Playing against Vika, you never know what she’s going to bring. But I was ready to play my game and I’m happy that I was so solid.”
While Gauff crashed out, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who had been feeling a little under-the-weather earlier in the week, eased past qualifier Veronika Kudermetova, a finalist at Dubai in 2022. The tournament’s top-seed came into Dubai having lost her last two matches: the Australian Open final to Madison Keys and her Doha opener last week against Ekaterina Alexandrova. And with Kudermetova having beaten Alexandrova on Monday in Dubai’s first round, Sabalenka said she had a little extra motivation.
“I wanted to get revenge against both of them – to me, it didn’t matter who would win the previous match,” said Sabalenka, whose 6-3, 6-4 win took her personal record against Kudermetova to 4-2. “About her game, I mean, she’s unpredictable: She can get distracted and lose easily, but at some point she can just start smashing the ball and you’re in the fence. It’s always like a rollercoaster of a game with her. That’s why I’m happy with the way I stayed focused today. No matter how she played, I was there fighting, trying to stay focused on myself and on my game.”
Sabalenka will now face promising young Dane Clara Tauson, who edged two-time Dubai winner Elina Svitolina in a thrilling three-set tiebreak that ran-on past midnight on Court Three.
