(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) It was only a couple of years ago that Sara Errani joined a select group of players that have won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Now two years later, the Italian had to grind it out in the qualifiers to get into the main draw.
Two years can be a long time in tennis. And at one stage in her third round game in the qualifiers against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Monday, it seemed the Bologna-based Errani would bid adieu to Dubai without getting a taste of the main tournament - a tournament she won in emphatic style in 2016.
Who could ever forget the ease with which she dismantled Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic with a 6-0 6-2 score in that 2016 final? But on Monday, the 2012 French Open finalist was trailing 4-1 in the third set against Sabalenka before staging an incredible fightback to win 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7/4).
"Yes, I just tried to keep going. I tried to make her feel that I was there," the 30-year-old player said after winning the one-hour-49-minute battle on Court Two.
"Maybe in the second I was too down, so I just wanted to try to come up and fight for the points."
So, how tough is it for a past champion to play in the qualifiers?
"Well, it's the only way to play in the main rounds," Errani said.
"I mean, what can I do? I cannot play the main draw, so I have to play the qualifiers. In fact, I was lucky to get into the qualifiers," said Errani whose ranking has dropped to 107 after an unimpressive run in 2017 and a two-month suspension for a failed drug test.
"So it's good to win these three matches. I need matches to be ready. Of course, it's not easy here. You have three rounds of qualifiers, tough matches. I play tomorrow. Physically it's tough, but I'm trying to be ready."
Errani, who reached a career-high ranking of five in 2013, admits that it's going to be difficult to rediscover her best form. "I don't know. It's tough to say. I keep going. I think I'm on the right track. Of course, I need more matches, more confidence. But I know it is too difficult, maybe impossible, to reach the level that I had in 2012-2013. I know top 10 is really difficult," she said.
Meanwhile, Samantha Stosur, the 33-year-old Australian who won the US Open in 2011, also reached the main draw with a 6-1 6-4 win over Maria Sakkari of Greece in the third round of the qualifiers on Monday.
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