WTA 1000 Dubai 2/15 - 2/21 2026

[JTContinental]

Eala finally starting to look like she's living up to her hype

[JTContinental]

Mertens has now played in the two worst WTA matches between good players I've ever seen.

Seven years ago, she lost in a third-set tiebreak on clay to Venus when both players were inept. Today, she blew three match points in the second-set tiebreak against Gauff in a match when both players were pathetic. Gauff served 16 double faults, including three in a row in the last game she lost, but she still won 6-3 in the third because Mertens could not keep the ball in the court and had her own critical double faults. I lost an hour-and-a-half of my life I will never get back.

That terrible match was Gauff's 100th win at 1000 level tournament, the youngest player to claim that honor.

[ashkor87]

That is a tribute to Gauff's mental strength! Winning ugly, when you are not playing well ..

[ti-amie]

Day 5 Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 5:00 AM

Quarterfinals
DEN C. Tauson (12) vs USA J. Pegula (4)
Starts: 14:00 (Venue) 05:00 (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
RUS M. Andreeva (5) vs USA A. Anisimova (2)
Follows previous match
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
USA C. Gauff (3) vs PHI A. Eala
Not before: 19:00 (Venue) 10:00 (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
CRO A. Ruzic vs UKR E. Svitolina (7)
Follows previous match

New Court 1
Starts at 5:00 AM

Quarterfinals
UKR Kichenok/USA Krawczyk vs KAZ Danilina/SRB Krunic (4)
Starts: 14:00 (Venue) 05:00 (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
GER Siegemund/RUS Zvonareva vs AUS Hunter /CZE Siniakova (7)
Follows previous match
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
CAN Dabrowski/BRA Stefani (5) vs MEX Olmos/USA Pegula
ORDER TBC NOT BEFORE 4:30 PM
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
TPE Chan/DEN Tauson vs ROU Cristian/ROU Ruse
ORDER TBC NOT BEFORE 4:30 PM

[ashkor87]

Good tight win for AA over the defending champion...i expect Pegula to win this title now..or at least hope she does..last remaining player from my team now!!

[ponchi101]

I believe I only have Amanda left. So going for her.
But Jerssie has her number, so...

[ti-amie]

Day 6 Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 4:30 AM

Semifinals
KAZ Danilina/SRB Krunic (4) vs CAN Dabrowski/BRA Stefani (5)
Starts: 13:30 (Venue) 04:30 (Your time)
Semifinals
Upcoming
GER Siegemund/RUS Zvonareva vs ROU Cristian/ROU/Ruse
Follows previous match
Semifinals
Upcoming
USA J. Pegula (4) vs USA A. Anisimova (2)
Not before: 17:00 (Venue) 08:00 (Your time)
Semifinals
Upcoming
UKR E. Svitolina (7) vs USA C. Gauff (3)
Not before: 19:00 (Venue) 10:00 (Your time)

[ashkor87]

Pegula says she is serving better and moving better..if true, she would have a shot at a major. Has anyone here seen enough to tell? I haven't..only YT highlights..
Meanwhile theory says on a fast court, defense trumps offense..and Coco has the best.

[ti-amie]

Pegula says she is serving better and moving better..if true, she would have a shot at a major. Has anyone here seen enough to tell? I haven't..only YT highlights..
Meanwhile theory says on a fast court, defense trumps offense..and Coco has the best.

I have seen her play a couple of times during this swing. She looks different physically and I think she is moving better and serving better as well.She scheued to play next week but we'll see.

[ashkor87]

Pegula says she is serving better and moving better..if true, she would have a shot at a major. Has anyone here seen enough to tell? I haven't..only YT highlights..
Meanwhile theory says on a fast court, defense trumps offense..and Coco has the best.

I have seen her play a couple of times during this swing. She looks different physically and I think she is moving better and serving better as well.She scheued to play next week but we'll see.

Good for her if she can somehow add some oomph to her shots

[ashkor87]

saw the highlights of Andreeva-Anisimova - must say Kafelnikov is right - Andreeva's forehand is literally garbage - that is all she does with it, hit junk shots. Seems to lack the confidence to actually hit the forehand - needs to fix it!

[jazzyg]

That is a tribute to Gauff's mental strength! Winning ugly, when you are not playing well ..

Gauff is mentally tough, but that was not one of the times she showed it. She kept double faulting over and over and over, keeping Mertens in the match.

[jazzyg]

What a fantastic win for Pegula over Anisimova, who was destroying her on the way to a 6-1, 2-0, break point for a double break lead before Pegula found her game. She needed Anisimova to come down from her ridiculously high level, and she forced her to do exactly that by raising her own level significantly.

If she is not worn out, Pegula should beat either Gauff or Svitolina in the final.

[ponchi101]

Some players simply have another player's number.
Krajicek had Pete's. Pete had Chang's. And it is hard not to say that Jessie has Amanda's.
Very good highlights.

[Suliso]

A fantastic win for Svitolina albeit of course it should have been in two.