Ostapenko’s slump continues in Dubai

Jelena Ostapenko said she would “take it very hard” after suffering a third straight defeat when she bowed out to Elena Vesnina in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The No.4 seed, who received a first-round bye, lost 6-1 7-6(6) to the Russian, leaving her winless in the Middle East after an opening-round loss in Doha.

Ostapenko, the reigning French Open champion and world No.6, has lost six of her nine tour-level matches in 2018.

“I really love winning and if I lose I take it very hard. It’s very hard for me to lose because I’m very competitive and I will just give my everything to try and win the match,” she told Sport360.

“Of course I’m trying to take good things out of it. Because this season I entered as a top-10 player and everybody expects more from me and almost every match I play, I play as a favourite and I really have to show my best.

“But that’s not easy with traveling and everything, so I think everything will come with experience because it’s my first season as a top-10 player.”

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Ostapenko’s three wins this year have come against players ranked 93, 100 and 197 respectively.

Vesnina urged patience for those following Ostapenko, saying: “She’s a very confident girl, I must say. It helps her a lot. It’s a really good kind of feel that she has inside of her.

“A lot of players are saying that she’s not really kind of respectful to other girls. I mean, she’s still junior, give her some time. She’s getting better.”

Top two seeds progress

In other results, Garbine Muguruza continued her impressive form in the Middle East to seal a quarterfinal place in Dubai.

A week after progressing to the final in Doha, Muguruza was back to her winning ways after a first-round bye, defeating CiCi Bellis in straight sets to set up a last-eight clash with Caroline Garcia, who beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets.

The second seed advanced on the net and put away a high swinging volley on match point to seal a 6-3 7-5 victory at 1.53am local time.

At 1:53am Muguruza defeats Bellis 6-3, 7-5 to reach #DDFTennis quarters pic.twitter.com/HdduWKPn2B

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 21, 2018

“I was so surprised people are staying here – you guys made the match greater so thanks so much for staying. Very big effort,” she said on court to cheers.

“And obviously I’m glad that I won. I stayed focused all the time even though in the second set she came back playing much better. I tried to stay calm and wait until the last moment to close it out.”

Earlier, No.1 seed and defending champion Elina Svitolina survived a second-set wobble before closing out China’s Wang Qiang 6-1 5-7 6-2.

“I didn’t expect it like this. But I always try to expect the unexpected,” Svitolina said. “I was a little bit angry at myself that I didn’t bring my best game in the end of the second set but I had to accept it and bounce back.”

No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova recovered to beat former top-10 player Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7 6-2 6-4.

She will next meet the in-form Angelique Kerber, who improved her 2018 record to 13-2 after a 6-4 6-2 win over qualifier Sara Errani.

Other winners included wildcard Naomi Osaka – who will next play Svitolina – and Daria Kasatkina, who saved two match points to upset No.7 seed Johanna Konta.