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31 minutes ago
Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal was knocked out in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open after losing in three sets to American Katie Volynets.
Kartal, 23, took the opening set against world number 68 Volynets but fell to a 3-6 6-4 6-4 loss.
The 91st-ranked Englishwoman broke into the world’s top 100 for the first time at the end of last season.
She was playing for the first time since making her overseas Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open last month, exiting in the first round.
Kartal recovered from losing serve in the opening game to turn around the first set, which she clinched by taking a third consecutive game.
Volynets, also 23, raced into a 5-0 lead in the second set as she took the match to a decider.
But that was only after she survived a scare as Kartal threatened an unlikely comeback, the Briton battling back to 5-4 before losing serve for a third time.
There were six consecutive breaks of serve as the players scrapped for the decisive breakthrough in the final set, and it was Volynets who struck with a first match point to set up a second-round meeting with top seed Elena Rybakina.
