Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2016: WTA Scores and Results from Thursday

Ana Ivanovic suffered a shock loss at the hands of Barbora Strycova during Thursday's 2016 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The 28-year-old couldn't cope with Strycova's range, and a handful of key errors handed the Czech a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win.

Elina Svitolina needed three sets to get past Coco Vandeweghe, while Caroline Garcia also qualified for the semi-finals with a two-set win over Germany's Andrea Petkovic. The final semi-finalist will be Sara Errani, who beat Madison Brengle in three sets.

Here's a look at the full results from Thursday:

Caroline Garcia	6-3, 6-4	Andrea Petkovic
Sara Errani	4-6, 6-1, 6-4	Madison Brengle
Elina Svitolina	6-4, 1-6, 6-2	Coco Candeweghe
Barbora Strycova	7-6 (5), 6-3	Ana Ivanovic

Ivanovic and Strycova served up an entertaining match to close out Thursday's action, with the former losing her concentration at key moments and almost gifting her opponent the match.

The two barely surrendered an inch during the first set, and Ivanovic appeared to be on her way to the lead when she took a 5-3 lead in the tiebreak. But a key double-fault gave Strycova life, and she used the momentum to win the next three points on the bounce and steal the set from Ivanovic.

Per TennisTV, Strycova also showed her versatility in that tiebreak:

The second set played out in similar fashion. Ivanovic showed flashes of her immense talent but made mistakes at key times, and Strycova took full advantage, breaking twice to qualify for the semi-finals.

Svitolina survived a major drop in form in the second set to see off Vandeweghe, beating the American 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Both players struggled tremendously on Thursday, combining for no fewer than 17 double-faults, per ProTennisLive.com. Vandeweghe failed to put less than 50 percent of her first serves into play, a major factor in the outcome of the match. But while the American looked sloppy, Svitolina hardly looked any better.

Rolling Stone's Juan Jose Vallejo wasn't impressed:

Svitolina has the ability to step into the court and hit winners at a high rate, but so far in the tournament, she has almost seemed unwilling to do so. Vandeweghe was given all kinds of space to dominate the rallies, but too many unforced errors doomed her fate.

A more in-form player won't make those same mistakes, and Svitolina's semi-final opponent, Italy's Errani, will like her chances.

She overcame a rough start against Brengle to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, showing off her remarkable defensive skills. Errano won't overpower too many opponents, but her ability to move across the court should help her greatly against Svitolina, whose groundstrokes haven't looked that great all week long.

Svitolina's serve also remains a work in progress, but fortunately for the Ukrainian, Errani can get erratic on that end as well, per ESPN's Brad Gilbert:

Garcia looks to be in excellent form entering the semi-finals, cruising to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Petkovic. The 22-year-old dominated in the return game, and the constant pressure had Petkovic off-balance throughout the match, as she piled up double-faults.

Per the WTA's official website, Garcia had lost both of her previous encounters against Petkovic, and she decided to change things up tactically for this match:

"

It was very difficult conditions, very windy. It's never easy to play in these conditions so you have to be focused.

I played pretty aggressive today but you have to against [Petkovic] - she's a big fighter.

[...] That's one where I was looking to improve, to put the pressure on my opponent, especially on her second serve. She did some double faults so I tried to put a bit more pressure for those free points.

"

The French starlet seems to be finding her best form at the right time, playing in her first semi-final of the 2016 season.

A clash with Strycova in the next round will present a major challenge, but with no more top-seeded players left in the tournament, Garcia has a unique chance to win her first tournament of the year.  

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