Former champion Simona Halep got off to a clinical start in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, needing 1 hour and 11 minutes to advance past Alison Riske 6-2, 6-4.

Halep, who won the title here in 2020 but is unseeded in this year's draw, extended her head-to-head lead over Riske to 4-0. The former World No.1's ranking has sunk to No.23 following an injury-struck 2021 season, but after a strong Australian swing featuring her 23rd career title at Melbourne Summer Set 1, Halep's form is ticking upwards again.

Her next test will either be No.3 seed Paula Badosa or qualifier and Romanian compatriot Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Match management: Strong serving was the lynchpin of Halep's victory. She landed 77% of her first deliveries, and won 80% of those points as Riske was unable to get to grips with returning it. The two-time Grand Slam champion fired six aces and faced only two break points, in the fourth game of the second set. Halep extricated herself from that hole with a one-two punch followed by a trio of unreturnable serves.

That juncture was also a potential turning point niftily avoided. Riske had not made much of an impact as she went down 6-2, 2-0, but fended off eight break points to get on the scoreboard in the second set. After coming through that battle, the American seemed poised to level in the next game until Halep's serve came to the fore.

Following that passage, which saw Halep maintain her break lead, the remainder of the match played out in a series of straightforward service holds.

Swiatek, Krejcikova, Pegula and Kvitova move into second round

No.6 seed Iga Swiatek and No.2 seed Barbora Krejcikova both reprised January wins in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Swiatek raced past Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-2 in 65 minutes, conceding two fewer games than in her 6-2, 6-3 defeat of the Russian in the Australian Open third round. Krejcikova edged out wildcard Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-6(0) after facing a sterner challenge than in her 6-0, 6-2 win over the Frenchwoman in the Sydney quarterfinals.

Krejcikova, last year's runner-up to Garbiñe Muguruza, came through a match in which both players suffered from inconsistency on serve. The Czech's seven aces were outweighed by eight double faults, and she found just 12 winners to 28 unforced errors.

Highlights: Krejcikova d. Garcia | Swiatek d. Kasatkina | Pegula d. Gauff

But Krejcikova displayed greater focus on big points, while Garcia was undone by a ratio of 35 unforced errors to 15 winners. The Roland Garros champion failed to serve out the match after Garcia came up with a brilliant pickup and then received the fortune of a dead net cord on break point. However, she recovered to dominate a tiebreak in which Garcia fell away as suddenly as she had resurged.

Swiatek delivered a clinical performance against Kasatkina, who had been forced to withdraw from St. Petersburg last week due to a positive Covid-19 test. The Pole won 80% of her first-serve points and repeatedly slammed forehand winners past her opponent. Kasatkina began to raise her level midway through the second set, playing her best and most aggressive tennis to grit out a hold for 2-3.

But already down a set and a break, it was too little, too late - particularly with Swiatek responding with the kind of form that saw her pull off a scintillating no-look backhand pass en route to breaking Kasatkina for 5-2. The 20-year-old converted her first match point with some doughty defence, Kasatkina proving unable to put multiple overheads away before Swiatek nailed another winning backhand pass.

An all-American first-round derby between two of last year's quarterfinalists saw Jessica Pegula progress 6-4, 6-4 past Coco Gauff. There were 10 breaks of serve in total, and it was a match decided mostly by unforced errors: Pegula's 34 (to only nine winners) were still fewer than Gauff's 52 (to 15 to winners).

Gauff was also beset by 10 double faults, and won only 30% of her second serve points compared to Pegula's 58%. Australian Open quarterfinalist Pegula, who has risen to a career high of No.14 this week, captured the initial lead in both sets, and just about held on to it both times despite Gauff's tenacity from behind.

2013 champion Petra Kvitova closed out the night session with a blistering 68-minute performance to defeat Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-0. The win sets up a potential showdown with top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round. The World No.2 will face Marta Kostyuk to open her Dubai campaign on Tuesday.