Former No. 4 Sofia Kenin ended current No. 4 Jasmine Paolini's title defense at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. Kenin stayed undefeated against the Italian, winning 6-4, 6-0 to make her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since 2023.

Dubai: Draws | Scores | Order of play 

Kenin will face No. 6 Elena Rybakina for a spot in the semifinals. Rybakina came through a dramatic duel against No.10 Paula Badosa, saving a season-high six match points to win 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(2).

Kenin's victory improved her perfect record against Paolini to 3-0, with her previous wins each coming in 2019. With her signature blend of crisp baseline angles, Kenin built a 5-2 lead in the opening set before snuffing out Paolini's bid for a first-set comeback. 

Any inroads Paolini made in the latter stages of the first set were upended by a bad fall early in the second set. Serving at 6-4, 30-0, Paolini rolled over her right ankle mid-rally. She was able to walk to her chair under her own power. Paolini gamely tried to play through the injury, but she struggled to muster the intensity of movement that has been the hallmark of her surge up the rankings. After the match, Paolini withdrew from doubles. 

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Kenin has surged into the Dubai quarterfinals in emphatic fashion. After knocking off 16th seed Donna Vekic in the first round, she saved two match points in the second round to best Marta Kostyuk 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(5). Her win over Paolini is her first Top 5 win on a hard court since her title run at the 2020 Australian Open, where she defeated No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. 

More Top 10 results on Day 4 in Dubai:

Rybakina saves six match points to beat Badosa

No. 6 Elena Rybakina staged the biggest comeback of the Hologic WTA Tour season to get past No. 10 Paula Badosa. The 2020 finalist was on the brink of defeat in the second-set tiebreak, with Badosa serving up 6-3. She proceeded to save four match points to win the tiebreak 10-8. After Badosa appeared to injure her left leg in the third set, Rybakina looked primed to run away with the win, but the Spaniard had one more push in her.

Badosa played an outstanding return game to break Rybakina at 5-5 and held two more match points on Rybakina's serve at 6-5. Once again, Rybakina wiped out Badosa's chances and went on to win 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(2). Her six match points saved are the most by any player so far this season. It is the most any player has saved en route to a win since Tatjana Maria defeated Emiliana Arango last year at Nottingham.

Noskova holds off Pegula to make first WTA 1000 quarterfinal

No. 35 Linda Noskova's outstanding swing through the Middle East continues in Dubai, where she upset No.5 Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6(8) in the Round of 16.

The 20-year-old Czech was riding a three-match losing streak when she landed in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago. She stopped that run at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open by scoring her first Top 10 win of the year over Paula Badosa, en route to the semifinals. Last week, she pounded her way to the Round of 16 in Dubai, where she was narrowly edged by No. 2 Iga Swiatek. 

Noskova saves set points, upsets Pegula in Dubai for third Top 5 win

In Dubai, Noskova posted quality wins over Yulia Putintseva and Diana Shnaider in the first two rounds before getting the better of Pegula. Noskova led the American by a set and 4-2 before Pegula stormed back to take the set to a tiebreak. Pegula was the first to earn set points, but Noskova backed herself in the big moments to keep the 2023 semifinalist in the set, saving two set points to ultimately pocket her first Top 5 win of the year.

Stearns earns Top 10 breakthrough vs. Zheng, but Andreeva prevails overall

In a second-round match that was held over due to Tuesday's rain, No. 46 Peyton Stearns came from a set down to defeat No. 7 Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The victory is the 23-year-old American's first over a Top 10 player.

However, No. 12 seed Mirra Andreeva halted Stearns later in the day. Andreeva beat the American 6-1, 6-1 to advance to her fourth career WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Andreeva will take on No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek next.

Cirstea wins twice to return to Dubai quarterfinals

Wild card Sorana Cirstea reached the quarterfinals with two three-set wins on Wednesday. She ousted qualifier Alycia Parks 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 early in the day, then upset No. 8 seed Emma Navarro 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 in a 3-hour and 1-minute nightcap.

Photos: All of 2025's three-hour matches

Cirstea posted a semifinal result here last year and has now defended a large chunk of those points. By defeating Navarro, the 34-year-old Romanian earned her first Top 10 win since she beat Marketa Vondrousova at 2024 Rome.

Navarro needed three sets to get through Abu Dhabi champion Belinda Bencic 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 earlier on Wednesday. But she saw her run ended by Cirstea and has not won consecutive matches since reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Cirstea's quarterfinal opponent will be No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova, who squeaked past McCartney Kessler 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5). Muchova has a 4-1 head-to-head lead over Cirstea.