Ons Jabeur came through a tricky first-round clash against Jelena Ostapenko to seal her place in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open last 16 on Tuesday.
The Tunisian was made to work by seventh seed Ostapenko at the International Tennis Centre in Zayed Sports City before sealing a 7-6, 7-5 victory.
Jabeur, who is still working her way back from an injury-plagued 2024, will now face 17-year-old Sonobe Wakana of Japan for a quarter-final spot.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist was knocked out in the third round of the season's opening Grand Slam in Australia last month, falling in three sets to Emma Navarro.
“Jelena is such a great player,” said crowd favourite Jabeur after beating the Latvian in one hour and 46 minutes.
“It's very tough to play her, so I tried to focus on myself and the crowd definitely helped, even though … I was really like trying to stay focused because if you lose a little bit here she can take advantage.
“I'm very happy with the level that I played in and definitely that I did not get frustrated in the right moments.”
Wildcard Sonobe came through qualifying to earn a place in a tour-level main draw for the first time, where she stunned Chinese world No 55 Yuan Yue of China 6-4, 6-3 on Monday.
Last month, Sonobe became the first Japanese player to win the Australian Open girls' singles title.
“I still can’t believe it,” she told the WTA on Tuesday. “I had never played a player ranked that high before, she’s a very good player, so I’m so happy.”
Belinda Bencic continued her tennis comeback by recovering from a mid-match wobble to ease past Rebecca Sramkova.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medallist came out on top 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to set up a last-16 tie with lucky loser Veronika Kudermetova.
Bencic – who lifted the title in 2023 – took the opening set comfortably but went down tamely in the second before regaining her composure to seal victory and continue her successful return following maternity leave.
And with her priorities having changed, Bencic believes she is in a good place as she looks to kick-on in her career.
“To have a family has been really a blessing, spending every moment with our daughter,” she said in a post-match interview.
“It is super nice when she's here with us. We are managing travel as well with her.
“It's a different perspective on the court, though, obviously I still want to win, but it's different, even when you lose the match, it's not the end of the world. Tennis is not everything any more.”
Bencic, 27, made her comeback in competitive tennis towards the end of last year and reached the Australian Open fourth round in what was her first Grand Slam appearance since the birth of Bella.
After her victory in Abu Dhabi, the Swiss has now gone 8-3 for the year. “The comeback has been faster than we expected,” Bencic added. “Obviously, we did all the hard work late last season and also in the preseason. So, for sure it was not easy to be here right now.
“And we didn't rush, but also the comeback has been much earlier than we expected. So of course, very happy with how Australia went, but it doesn't mean that I can just relax now, but I have to continue the work.”
Bencic started well against her Slovakian opponent before appearing to lose concentration in the second but regained her composure and set up the clash with Kudermetova.
“I took some time to get used to the conditions and it's always like this in the first match of the tournament,” Bencic added.
“It is difficult but I'm happy with the result. I was very focused in the third set, and I was able to do the things that I didn't do well in the second set.”
In the battle of the former Grand Slam champions, Marketa Vondrousova eased past Emma Raducanu 6-3, 6-4 and will now tackle Kazakhstani Yulia Putintseva for a place in the last eight.
Vondrousova – who secured the 2023 Wimbledon crown after beating Ons Jabeur – proved too strong for 2021 US Open winner Raducanu, easing to victory in one hour and 35 minutes.
“It was a tough match,” Vondrousova said after beating her British opponent. “She was playing some great tennis and we were fighting every game. So, I'm very happy to be through and playing another match.
“It's a bit difficult to change from morning tennis to night tennis. Balls get heavier and you get used to it maybe in a couple of games. I think that's tough. But overall, everything is great. Courts are great. It's a great place for us to play.”
Canadian eighth seed Leylah Fernandez battled through to the next round after beating Moyuka Uchijima of Japan 7-6, 7-6 and will now face New Zealand's Lulu Sun.
