Dubai: A thrilling first evening under the lights at the 23rd Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships saw 20-year-old US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez breeze through her first-round match to set-up a scintillating second-round tie with World No.1 Iga Swiatek.

Canadian Fernandez, who has Filipino roots on her mother’s side, enjoyed strong support inside the Garhoud venue as she comfortably defeated Austria’s Julia Grabher 6-4, 6-2 in chilly conditions on Centre Court. Making her debut in the emirate, she seemed to revel in the encouragement from vocal fans.

“It’s not the hottest tonight, so I need to thank all those who came out to support us,” said Fernandez, ranked World No.39 and chasing a third WTA singles title. “I enjoyed the atmosphere. l loved the crowd and the way they were cheering for us. Hopefully they can come for my next match too.”

That next match carries great promise. Swiatek, a three-time Grand Slam winner, was a late arrival in Dubai as she claimed a 12th WTA singles title on Saturday night with victory in Doha. Fernandez, who reached a career-high World No.13 last August, was asked about her gameplan against the top-seeded Polish star.

“Well, for that I have got to talk to my coaches and try to execute their gameplan as much as I can,” she said. “One thing I will do is enjoy my time on court with her because she’s been doing great these past couple of years and I am sure it’s going to be a great match.” 

Starting just after 7pm on Sunday, Fernandez broke Grabher’s service game in the fifth, but Grabher restored balance by breaking back in the eighth. Grabher, 26 years old and ranked No.90 in the world, was making her WTA 1000 debut, but 20-year-old Fernandez quickly regained advantage, immediately breaking serve once more and closing out the opening set in under 40 minutes. 

In the second set, Fernandez continued where she left off, breaking Grabher’s service game at the first time of asking and replicating the feat at the next opportunity to race into a 4-0 lead. At times playing an aggressive serve and volley style, Fernandez mixed in some powerful forehands and cross-court backhands, much to the crowd’s delight, as she wrapped up the victory.

In the evening’s second game under the floodlights, Ukrainian wildcard Marta Kostyuk fought back from a set down to defeat Turkish wildcard Ipek Oz 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the first set, World No.50 Kostyuk failed to defend three break points against an opponent positioned 146 places below her in the WTA rankings, but found her range early in the second to hit five aces on route to squaring the tie. In the final set, she broke Oz’s first two service games and saw out the set with relative ease. 

“I just had to keep on fighting,” said Kostyuk, who will face No.8 seed Belinda Bencic in the second round. “I wasn’t my best day today and she played really good – it happens. It was windy too and she is lefty, which is never easy. But I’m very happy with the win because a win is a win. It doesn’t matter how it comes. Now I’m just hoping to be more consistent throughout the year.”