DUBAI: In a first-round matchup of former Grand Slam champions, ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan beat Canada’s Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 6-4 on Monday in the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) Duty Free Tennis Championships. Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, finished with a 6-2 edge in aces and picked on Andreescu’s second serve, winning 11 of 14 points. Rybakina took the first set in 38 minutes, but Andreescu jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set. However, Andreescu lost her final three service games as Rybakina closed out the match. Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the 13th seed, and Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, the 15th seed, both won their opening matches in straight sets. Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina upset 10th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, and Romania’s Sorana Cirstea edged 11th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 after saving two match points in the second-set tiebreaker. Romania’s Ana Bogdan, the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova and Karolina Pliskova, the United States’ Lauren Davis and Shelby Rogers and Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich also won their opening matches.