(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Elena Vesnina, the Russian doubles specialist who reached the Wimbledon singles semifinals in 2016, expects a tough encounter against reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Vesnina may have won her opening match on Monday in straight sets (6-4 7-5) against Shuai Peng of China but it was anything but a straightforward win.
"Shuai is such a tough player, it's never easy against her. And it was another tough match today," Vesnina said after winning the 101-minute battle against the 32-year-old Peng.
"She is a fighter, she always gives her best from the beginning till the end. We had lot of matches in the past. We know each other very well in terms of our games. So it was a very tough match." But it's only going to get tougher for Vesnina as the world number 23 next plays Ostapenko, the 20-year Latvian who stunned the tennis world with her triumph on the Parisian dirt.
"Jelena Ostapenko is a very talented player. She is a youngster who has already won a Grand Slam. She has a lot of good wins under her belt. She's a top-10 player. Obviously, yeah, she's having a great season," said Vesnina who has won three Grand Slam doubles titles. "I'm looking forward to playing her. We played I think couple of years ago on clay, so it was different. It was kind of few years ago. I am just going to focus on my game. I'll try to find my good game here. I need some time to adjust to the conditions in Dubai, to feel the ball.
"So, we'll see. It's going to be an interesting match. We both play aggressive tennis. It's going to be a lot of winners, a lot of errors, big serves. We will see. It's going to be good match," said Vesnina who won her only match against the Latvian 7-5 6-0 in Madrid in 2016. Vesnina admitted that playing her first match in the afternoon session on Monday was not easy for her. "I asked for the late start, but obviously I was already on the schedule," she said.
"I mean, it's okay. 2pm it's not really early. It's great to be back, playing on center court. The atmosphere is always great. You know a lot of people watching you, supporting you. You just push yourself.
A former Dubai quarterfinalist, Vesnina then revealed what she wanted to do off the court in Dubai. "I really want to see the horse races here. I heard that it's really big in Dubai. It's one of the best horse races in the world," she said. "And the stadium (Meydan) is massive. Actually, that's one of my dreams, to attend the horse race in Dubai to see the atmosphere, the people around. I think it's something incredible," said Vesnina who grew up admiring German icon Steffi Graf.
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