Abu Dhabi Women’s Tennis Open: World No 292 Anastasia Gasanova stuns former top-ranked Karolina Pliskova

Abu Dhabi: Russian qualifier and World No 292 Anastasia Gasanova sent former top-ranked Karolina Pliskova crashing out of the season-opening Abu Dhabi WTA event on Saturday in a straight sets triumph. The 21-year-old Gasanova won 6-2, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 and record her first ever victory over a player in the top 100. Gasanova, making her main draw debut, needed just 73 minutes to see off the third seed. “I’m really surprised, but when I woke up today, I thought, ‘Why not? Why can’t I win this match?’” said Gasanova. “Actually, I had thought I would lose in qualifiers or something like that, but I just kept pushing myself, like, I need to win and I want to win.” Gasanova goes on to face Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo for a place in the quarter-finals. Ukrainian second seed Elina Svitolina eased past Russian veteran and two-time Grand Slam runner-up Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-1. Greece’s Maria Sakkari, seeded nine, defeated US teenager Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-2.