Japanese teenager Sonobe fires 36 winners, upsets Yuan in WTA debut

Australian Open junior champion Wakana Sonobe delivered an impressive upset on her WTA main-draw debut, coming from 3-0 down in the second set to defeat No. 55-ranked Yuan Yue 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.

Abu Dhabi: Draws | Scores | Order of play | 411

Sonobe, 17, had been awarded a qualifying wild card for the second year running, and posted eye-catching straight-sets wins over Hailey Baptiste -- her first career Top 100 victory -- and Cristina Bucsa to make the main draw. She is the third 2008-born player to notch a tour-level win following Prague semifinalist Laura Samson and junior No. 1 Emerson Jones, who made the second round of Adelaide last month.

"I'm super happy, I still can't believe it," Sonobe said in her on-court interview.

The left-handed Japanese teenager, ranked No. 837, displayed a heavyweight power game to outhit Yuan over 1 hour and 35 minutes. She tallied 36 winners in total, racking up a series of one-two punches throughout the match and outweighing her 32 unforced errors. Yuan, by contrast, could only muster 13 winners despite her own preference for front-foot tennis.

Sonobe also demonstrated solid composure to hold off Yuan's attempted comeback. Though she only faced two break points in the whole match, Yuan found an excellent pass to convert the second of those early in the second set. Sonobe was only able to take four of the 15 break-point chances she had but didn't let the missed opportunities frustrate her. Pounding winners off both wings, she reeled off the last six games of the match to set up a second-round meeting with either No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko or Ons Jabeur.

"I had luck on my side twice": Day 1's closest and longest match was the last on the schedule -- a clash of former Abu Dhabi finalists that saw lucky loser Veronika Kudermetova come from match point down to defeat No. 5 seed Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(5) in 2 hours and 55 minutes.

Kudermetova, the 2021 runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka, had only got into the main draw earlier on the same day after younger sister Polina withdrew due to illness. She lost the first set from 5-2 up, but then proceeded to hit a purple patch of form to rattle off nine of the next 11 games and go up 3-1 in the decider.

Samsonova, who fell to Belinda Bencic in the 2023 final, hit back, and held the first match point of the contest at 5-4 -- only to net a return. A rejuvenated Kudermetova forced a tiebreak, leapt out to a 5-1 lead and was pegged back again to 5-5. Appropriately, the match ended on the closest of calls -- a Samsonova forehand that the electronic system confirmed was just long. The result meant that Kudermetova improved to 6-2 overall against Samsonova.

"I had luck on my side twice," said Kudermetova afterwards. "I got in, and I won. Just a good day for me today.

"Already this season I lost a lot of matches when I led. I told myself, 'This time, Veronika you have to work on that thing. If you will be sad, for sure you will lose this match.'"

Elsewhere, New Zealand's Lulu Sun snapped a seven-match losing streak dating back to the Monterrey final last August in style, routing wild card Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 in 75 minutes. Ashlyn Krueger recovered after letting a 3-1 second-set lead slip against fellow American McCartney Kessler, eventually quelling the qualifier 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 in 2 hours and 18 minutes. Krueger's reward is a second-round date with last year's runner-up, No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina.

Another American, Katie Volynets, came through an arduous clash of qualifiers against Sonay Kartal, coming from a break down in the third set to advance 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours and 33 minutes. Volynets will next face No. 1 seed and defending champion Elena Rybakina.