Krejcikova and Pliskova did not advance to the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi

Unlike Maria Bouzkova, they made it to the second round, but their journey through the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi ended there. Barbora Krejcikova lost to Russia’s Samsonova on Thursday afternoon and Karolina Pliskova then lost to recent Australian Open champion Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Krejcikova, the world number 30, lost her serve three times in the first set, while Lyudmila Samsonova only twice. The decisive break was at the end of the set, which caused the Ivancic native to lose 5:7.

During the second set, the Czech fended off five match points, but still did not manage to turn the match around. The tiebreak, in which she missed a set point, was lost 6:8.

Her opponent, who is ranked 19th in the WTA rankings, will play her compatriot Veronika Kudermetova in the quarter-finals.

Pliskova was eliminated after a more straightforward result. The 20th player in the world did not hold her opening serve of the match, which was decisive. She lost 4:6 to Jelena Rybakina, who currently rounds out the top 10 of the women’s singles rankings.

The former world number one did not fare well in the second set either, in which she lost her serve twice. This led to a final score of 2::6.

After a match that lasted only seventy minutes, Rybakina can now prepare for the quarter-finals. Next, she will face the winner of the Beatriz Haddad Maia – Yulia Putintseva duel.

But there is one more Czech singles player who has a chance to succeed this week. The WTA 250 level event is taking place in Linz, with Markéta Vondroušová among the top eight players. On Friday morning, she is scheduled to play Dalma Galfiová of Hungary in the semi-finals.

The tennis events in the United Arab Emirates and Austria, which take place on hard courts, will culminate on Sunday. Live coverage of both events can be watched on O2 TV Tennis.

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