Jelena Ostapenko suffered a surprise defeat to a qualifier in her opening Dubai match, two days after falling just short of winning Doha.
On Saturday, the Latvian lost her third WTA 1000 final after Amanda Anisimova claimed a 6-4 6-3 win in the Qatar Open final.
Today, the world No. 26 kicked off her campaign at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai.
Ostapenko, who was probably mentally impacted by the Doha final she suffered, ended up getting bounced 3-6 3-6 by qualifier Moyuka Uchijima.
Uchijima d. Ostapenko 6-3 6-3 in Dubai
Biggest win of her life.
World #62 & qualifier this week beats the Doha finalist.
Jelena had a tough time recovering from her big week, but Moyuka played some very good tennis.
✅1st top 30 win
What a win.
🇯🇵❤️ pic.twitter.com/tMuZyQWE87
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 17, 2025
In 2022, the 27-year-old won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – but back then – it was a tournament from the WTA 500 category.
Meanwhile, the Japanese qualifier plays next against No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina, who had a first-round bye.
How Uchijima stunned Ostapenko?
The Japanese started the match with a break in the opening game but instantly got broken back in the following game.
In the third game, the world No. 62 missed out on two consecutive…
