DUBAI: Romania's Sorana Cirstea beat Sloane Stephens 5-7 6-3 6-2 eliminating her in three sets to cap a miserable debut trip to the Gulf for the U.S. teenager in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
The American suffered a second-round exit in last week's Qatar Open and the world number 16 said she had found it tough going in her first trip to the Gulf.
The 19-year-old, who defeated newly-installed world numberone Serena Williams on the way to reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, started confidently in front of a sparse Dubai crowd.
She broke in the first set to take a 5-4 lead, but then showed her inexperience, serving a double-fault on set point to allow Cirstea to make it 5-5.
The Floridian - the top ranked teenager - immediately broke again as she went on to claim the first set.
Stephens then took a 3-1 second-set lead, winning nine points in a row, but Cirstea fought back by taking five straight games to square the match.
Cirstea raced through the deciding set in 33 minutes, as the young American's serve collapsed, losing five of her last six service games.
Top seeds Williams and Victoria Azarenka - the world number one and two - are not due on court until Wednesday. Azarenka took three sets to defeat the 15-times Grand Slam winner in Sunday's Qatar Open final. (Reuters)
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