World No. 9 Belinda Bencic makes winning start at Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open

ABU DHABI: Second seed Belinda Bencic got her campaign up and running with a victory to progress to the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, on a day in which China’s rising star Qinwen Zheng stunned fifth seed Jelena Ostapenko.

At the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, Bencic was made to work in her first match of the tournament, winning 6-4, 7-5 against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

Bencic made the perfect start to the match, taking the first set 6-4 and led early in the second set. However Kostyuk rallied to go 5-3 up before Bencic levelled the score at 5-5. The Swiss then broke again to go 6-5 and held her serve to win 7-5.

Speaking after the match, she said: “It was a good first match of the tournament for me and it was tough for me. I’m happy with how the match went and there are some things that I think I can improve on but it’s nice to get into the next round.”

Earlier in the day, 20-year-old Zheng produced a strong display to beat World No. 12 Ostapenko 7-6, 6-1 to book a last-eight clash against either top seed Daria Kasatkina or Jil Teichmann.

Ostapenko raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Zheng showed why she is a bright prospect as she converted a break point and later held her serve to bring to level the scores. Both players continued to play impressive shots, forcing a marathon tie-break in which Zheng finally prevailed 10-8 in a set which lasted 1 hour and 18 minutes. Zheng maintained her form, dominating the second set to seal the victory.

Speaking after her match, Zheng, the world No. 29, said: “I didn’t start the match well as I was 3-0 down but I fought back to earn a tie-break. It was a close set and I was happy that I withheld the