ZIMBABWE tennis ace Cara Black and her long playing partner Anastasia Rodionova of Australia cruised to a straight sets win as they demolished the American duo of Abigail Spears and Raquel Jones to book a place in the quarter-finals of the $2 million Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday.
REPORT BY HENRY MHARA
Black and Rodionova won 6-2, 6-2 ensuring that they did not spend too long running about in the Dubai heat.
The energy saved by the two may be invaluable today when they meet the pair of Lisa Raymond (US) and Samantha Stosur (Australia) in the quarters.
Raymond and Stosur’s energy tank was also not really tested in the first round as they easily dispatched Natalie Grandin of South Africa and Uhlirova Vladmira of Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.
Black and Rodionova will be looking to redeem themselves after their below-par performance in the Qatar Total Open championships early this month when they crashed out in the second round.
They will go into the quarters today in search of a second Women’s Tennis Association victory of the season after winning the ASB Classic in Auckland, Australia, in January.
