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Seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia and Liudmila Samsonova suffer before progressing at Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open

ABU DHABI: Seeded players Beatriz Haddad Maia and Liudmila Samsonova both needed three sets to secure their places in the last-16 stage as the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council delivered another entertaining day of tennis.

On the third day of the inaugural WTA 500-level tournament at the International Tennis Center, the Brazilian was made to work in her 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory against Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova on Stadium Court.

After losing the first set, Haddad Maia, the World No. 14, showed her class, breaking Bouzkova’s serve at 5-3 to clinch the second set. Her confidence soared as the match went on and she dominated the decider, needing only 32 minutes to seal the third set 6-0.

Speaking after the match, she said: “Marie Bouzkova is a very competitive player and I had practiced hard over the last few days to be 100 percent ready, and I’m happy with how I played. I can only focus on the next game and along with my coach, I’ll watch videos of my next opponent to come up with the best strategy and improve my game.”

Meanwhile, eighth seed and World No. 19 Samsonova also recovered from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 against the US’s Claire Liu, who replaced Paula Badosa after the Spaniard withdrew from her first-round match due to a viral illness.

Speaking after the match, Samsonova said: “It was not easy to find my game and I was very nervous at the beginning. But in the second set, I started to play more aggressively and it worked. Playing at the start of the season is sometimes tough so getting as much game time as possible will help me for the rest of 2023.”

Due to personal reasons, two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza also withdrew from her highly anticipated match

Read more on arabnews.com