–

The Dubai draw came out Saturday, and it wasn’t very full of draw luck for the Canadians.

Bianca Andreescu will take on No. 9 seed and Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina right from the first round. That’s Monday.

And on Sunday, Leylah Fernandez (who had to go through qualifying at the previous two 500 events in the Middle East and was 1-for-2), got qualifier Julia Grabher and got through.

Now she faces … world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

Beyond Fernandez, there are plenty of intriguing first-rounders as the Dubai event gets under way a day earlier than “typical”, in terms of the main draw.

(Dubai is nine hours ahead of ET, 12 hours ahead of PT; Merida is one hour behind)

ATP – Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023 final results

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Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Dates: Feb. 19 – 25, 2023
Location: Dubai, UAE
Surface: Outdoor Hard (WTA 1000)
Prize money: $2,788,468
Draws: S56 – D28

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023
Final results

Singles, first round

Leylah Fernandez (CAN) def. [Q] Julia Grabher (AUT) 64 62

[12] Petra Kvitova (CZE) def. Martina Trevisan (ITA) 62 61
[14] Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) def. Paula Badosa (ESP) 67 (3) 76 (5) 64

Amanda Anisimova (USA) def. [WC] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 63 62
Marie Bouzkova (CZE) def. [WC] Sofia Kenin (USA) 61 61
[WC] Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE) def Danielle Collins (USA) 63 64
Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) def. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 64 62
Madison Keys (USA) def. [Q] Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 61 61
[WC] Marta Kostyuk (UKR) def. [WC] Ipek Oz (TUR) 46 64 62
[Q] Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) def Kaia Kanepi (EST) 63 61
[Q] Dayana Yastremska (UKR) def Alizé Cornet (FRA) 62 63
Zheng Qinwen (CHN) def. Zhang Shuai (CHN) 63 61

Doubles, first round

Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) / Alicja Rosolska (POL) def Alexa Guarachi (CHI) / Erin Routliffe (NZL) 62 76 (3)

Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) / Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) def [5] Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) / Ellen Perez (AUS) 36 63 [16-14]
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) / Elena Rybakina (KAZ) def [8] Laura Siegemund (GER) / Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 62 64

Miyu Kato (JPN) / Aldila Sutjiadi (INA) def. Ana Bogdan (ROU) / Angelina Gabueva (RUS) 76 (3) 63
Timea Babos (HUN) / Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) def. Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) / Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) 63 76 (6)
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) / Xu Yifan (CHN) def. [WC] Harriet Dart / Eden Silva (GBR) 46 61 [10-6]

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Merida Open Akron
Dates: Feb. 20 – 26, 2023
Location: Merida, Mexico
Surface: Outdoor Hard (WTA 250)
Prize money: $259,303
Draws: S32 – D16

Sunday, Feb. 18, 2023
Final results
Qualifying, final round

Rebecca Peterson (SWE) def. [ALT] Carol Zhao (CAN) 76 (5) 46 64 (Nadia Podoroska)

[ALT] Elina Avanesyan (RUS) def [4] Laura Pigossi (BRA) 26 61 63 (Wang Xinyu)
[12] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) def [1] Varvara Gracheva (RUS) 63 63 (Anna Bondar)
[5] Léolia Jeanjean (FRA) def. [9] Erika Andreeva (RUS) 57 64 64 ([2] Sloane Stephens)
Ana Konjuh (CRO) def. Aliona Bolsova (ESP) 62 63 (Nuria Parrizas Diaz)
[3] Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) def. [8] Lucrezia Stefanini (ITA) 46 63 75 ([4] Katerina Siniakova)