Ons Jabeur beat Alison Riske 7-6 (7/3), 1-6, 6-3 on Monday at the Dubai Championships to earn a second-round date with top seed Simona Halep.

The Tunisian who trains in Dubai was encouraged by football-level support from flag-waving Tunisian fans.

"I'm so grateful for the crowd, they really gave me energy. It feels like home here," said Jabeur.

"Alison is tough, she made me run everywhere, I was down in the second set but got it back in the third," added the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final last month at the Australian Open.

Jabeur lost the first eight points and missed a pair of set points in the 10th game before it went into a tie-breaker.

She led 5-0 in the decider and took the set on her fourth opportunity. But the momentum shifted in the second set, with Riske taking a 5-0 lead before a Jabeur took a medical time out for blisters.