The first half of second-round action completed at the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open on Friday. It was a successful day for favorites at this WTA 500 event and photographer Jimmie48 was on the courts from start to finish.
Playing Abu Dhabi on a career-high ranking of No.31, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia faced no break points in the second and third sets to overcome Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 5-7 6-3 6-2, firing a total of 11 aces in the match. With daughter Eva supporting her from the stands, Bondarenko converted two out of ten break points in the first set.
The 15th-seeded Jabeur has now reached the third round or better in seven of the last eight tournaments she’s played.
Beautiful blue courts, palm trees and the skills of our Jimmie48. This is our photo of the day. Veronika Kudermetova defeated Bianca Turati 6-2 6-1.
This is Sofia Kenin warming up for her today’s second-round match against Kirsten Flipkens. Another stunning photo with palm trees. The orange colors of Fila’s Mad for Plaid collection look great in the sunny Abu Dhabi setting.
The top-seeded American advanced this Friday, but it was not a pleasant victory, as her opponent Kirsten Flipkens suffered a left ankle injury during the second set and had to retire at 5-7 5-4.
Fourth seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-4 in Friday’s second-round match and recorded her eleventh straight victory that includes back-to-back titles in the end of 2020.
Yulia Putintseva defeated Barbora Krejcikova 6-4 7-5.
Late in the day, Alize Cornet couldn’t handle Paula Badosa‘s outstanding performance and lost 6-4 6-4.
I’m also adding these nice black-and-white warm-up photos.
