Damien Kayat previews the round of 16 Dubai Duty Free matches between Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula as well as Simona Halep and Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
2022 WTA Tour
WTA 500 Series
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Aviation Club Tennis Centre (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 16 Matches- 16th February
Ons Jabeur 27/20 | Jessica Pegula 56/100
Ons Jabeur will be looking to build on her hard-fought opening victory against two-time Grand Slam runner-up Vera Zvonareva. The Tunisian is clawing her way back to full fitness after an injury-plagued start to the season.
A back tweak at the Sydney International forced her to withdraw from the Aussie Open. And she looked rather rusty against Zvonareva, dropping her serve four times during the match.
Jabeur had a spectacular 2021 campaign that almost saw her reach the WTA Finals (Anett Kontaveit’s herculean run towards the end of the season derailed her chances).
She won her maiden title in Birmingham before an excellent showing during the North American hardcourt campaign. She lost in the final of the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic before reaching her maiden WTA 1000 semi-final at Indian Wells.
Jabeur has developed into a formidable hardcourt practitioner though her next match will pose a much greater threat.
Jessica Pegula has just been developing brilliantly- under the radar- over the last 12 months. She reached her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year’s Aussie Open.
She also performed admirably at WTA 1000 level last season, reaching the quarterfinals in Qatar, Indian Wells and Rome. She then reached her maiden WTA 1000 semi-final towards the end of the year in Canada.
Pegula started this year slowly but once again exploded into life in Melbourne, reaching her 2nd consecutive Aussie Open quarterfinal. Her opening-round victory here really impressed me.
She overcame compatriot Coco Gauff in straight sets. Mind you, everybody has been expecting Coco Gauff to explode this year. But she outplayed Gauff from the start, dominating with her powerful serve throughout.
She won 13 of 17 points on her second serve in the first set. That’s amazing against a powerful returner like Gauff. She landed 66% of her first-serves throughout the match.
Verdict: Pegula to win in three at 32/10
Pegula leads the head-to-head with Jabeur 2-1. Both of their matches in 2021 went all the way. Pegula won in Montreal only for Jabeur to avenge that defeat in Chicago.
Pegula is a steady baseliner who will look to move Jabeur around the court. Jabeur will look to be the aggressor and mix the rallies up. I just think that Pegula’s recent form and consistency will ultimately triumph against the undercooked Jabeur.
Simona Halep 1/10 | Elena-Gabriela Ruse 56/10
Simona Halep is aiming for a three-peat this week, having won this championship in both 2015 and 2020. Halep is coming off an extremely frustrating 2021 that saw her finish the season ranked 20th in the world.
To put that into context- she was ranked inside the top five from 2014-2020. Her season was obviously derailed by a calf injury that forced her to withdraw from both the French Open and Wimbledon.
But the 30-year-old Romanian has looked to right the ship in 2022. She actually won her opening event of the season at the Melbourne Summer Series. She then progressed serenely through the early stages of the Aussie Open before a shock 4th round defeat to fairy-tale story Alize Cornet.
I think that may have taken a slight emotional toll on the Romanian and this is her first appearance since Australia. But she showed little remorse in her opening match, blowing Alison Riske off the court in straight sets.
Next up she faces compatriot Elena-Gabriela Ruse. The 24-year-old is actually coming off a really solid 2021 campaign. She won her maiden title at the Hamburg European Open and also finished runner-up at the WTA event in Palermo. Tellingly, both of those events came on her preferred surface of clay.
Few would have given her a chance against 3rd seed Paula Badosa. Badosa won last year’s Indian Wells title and has emerged as one of the most consistent performers in world tennis. But the plucky Ruse managed to beat Gibert in three thrilling sets.
Badosa actually rushed to a 4-1 lead in the final set. But Ruse went for broke and won the last five games courtesy of inspirational tennis. This was the first top 10 win of Ruse’s career.
Verdict: Halep to win in three at 7/2
Halep absolutely dominated Ruse in their previous two meetings, with the 24-year-old only picking up four games in their two meetings. That included an emphatic victory earlier this year.
I think this match will probably be much closer, with Rus able to draw on the experience of that rousing victory over Badosa. At these odds, I think it’s more than worth it to back a three-set victory for Halep.
I can’t see this ending as a ‘changing of the guard’ moment for Romanian tennis. But perhaps Ruse’s victory over Badosa could propel her to nick a set off her idol.
