Dubai, UAE – February 19, 2025: With dampened spirits on a drying court, World No3 Coco
Gauff slumped out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after losing 4-6, 5-7 to fellow
American McCartney Kessler at the end of a rain-affected Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis
Stadium.
Gauff, the US Open 2023 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 No14 seed beat Emma Raducanu 7-6 (6), 6-4.
The third day of the landmark 25 th 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 2pm 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
No8 Qinwen Zheng’s tie 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 7pm, 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 Kessler 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 No4 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.
Other dignitaries in attendance were Donna Kelso, WTA Supervisor; Salah Tahlak, Deputy
Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and Tournament Director of this month’s Championships;
and Sinead El Sibai, Senior Vice President Marketing of Dubai Duty Free.
When the action resumed on Centre Court, World No2 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 No1 Aryna Sabalenka, who had been feeling a little under-the-
weather earlier in the week, eased past qualifier Veronika Kudermetova, a defeated finalist in
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.
The 25th edition of the annual WTA 1000 event is running until February 22, before the 33rd
staging of Dubai’s ATP Tour 500 tournament takes place from February 24 to March 1. The Dubai
Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the
patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Tickets are available online at Ticketmaster and dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com and
directly from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium Box Office from 9am-9pm daily.
