Belgium's Elise Mertens, two days after winning the biggest title of her career at the Qatar Open, fell at the first hurdle at the Dubai Duty Free tournament following a three-set defeat by Chinese qualifier Zhu Lin in a match that swung wildly back and forth and featured 17 breaks of serve. Mertens dropped her opening service game and Zhu served for the set at 5-3, but a run of five straight games brought the number 16 seed the first set and put her a break up in the second. Zhu fought back with a five-game run of her own and twice served for the set - Mertens then rediscovered some form, but at 4-5, she dropped her serve again and Zhu levelled. Four more breaks of serve followed in the decider, then Zhu pounced with the final break to complete a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory after just under three hours on court.