Sofia Kenin of U.S. in action during her Women's Singles match on Day Two of the Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open at Zayed Sports City on Jan. 07, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.Francois Nel/Getty Images
Sofia Kenin opened her season Thursday by beating Yang Zhaoxuan 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open.
The American hit 11 aces against Yang to set up a second-round match against Kirsten Flipkens.
“Obviously a little bit of nerves. I had to try and find my groove,” said Kenin, the Australian Open champion who will try to defend her title next month. “First set was quite tough for me. I couldn’t find the ball, I guess. But second set I showed up strong and of course I feel like it’s because of the lack of matches for me.”
After a long preseason, Kenin said she was happy to beat a player who had already had match practice in qualifying, but she had concerns about her own fatigue toward the end.
“I was like: ‘I just want to finish already. I’m too tired,’ ” Kenin said.
Second-seeded Elina Svitolina had to contend with the wind changing direction as she won 6-4, 6-3 against American Jessica Pegula.
“The conditions were not easy today, with the wind going around the court and changing all the time, so I tried to really stay focused on what I had to do on the court,” Svitolina said.
Third-seeded Karolina Pliskova hit seven double-faults in a tough match against 278th-ranked lucky loser Despina Papamichail before winning 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Also, fourth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka came back after trailing 5-3 in the opening set to beat Polona Hercog 7-6 (5), 6-2, sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina defeated Lucrezia Stefanini 6-1, 6-3, Hsieh Su-Wei upset eighth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) and Sara Sorribes Tormo beat French Open semi-finalist Nadia Podoroska 6-3, 6-3. American teenager Coco Gauff won the first 11 games in her 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Ulrikke Eikeri.