Dubai Duty Free championships off to blistering start as Keys, Kvitova turn on the style

The 2023 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships got off to a blistering start under Sunday sunshine, as two stalwarts of the women’s game came out firing on all cylinders inside the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

Opening proceedings on the emirate’s famed Centre Court, Madison Keys recorded a comfortable firstround victory over Italian opponent Jasmine Paolini.

The American, now ranked World No.23, showed glimpses of the form that once saw her rise as high as World No.7, secure six WTA singles titles, and reach the final of the 2017 US Open.

Making her second appearance in Dubai’s annual WTA 1000 event, Keys broke Paolini’s serve in the second game of the match and never looked back, taking the first set 6-1.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with Keys breaking serve early and racing through the remainder of the set, before serving out with ace to seal a 6-1, 6-1 victory and setting up a second-round match with fourth-seed Caroline Garcia.

“I was little nervous at the beginning, but I got off to a really good start and never looked back,” said Keys. “It’s good to get that first win, so we can now look forward.”

On her second-round showdown with Garcia, against whom she has a 3-1 head-to-head winning record, Keys added: “She’s a really tough opponent and it’s always a really good match against her, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

In game two on the show court, 12th seed Petra Kvitova, the 2013 Dubai champion and one of six Grand Slam winners taking part this week, rolled back the years with an impressive dismissal of Italy’s World No.25 Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-1. Kvitova and Trevisan tussled it out in the opening exchanges as the afternoon Dubai wind swirled overhead, before Kvitova, also a runner-up