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| Aryna Sabalenka clenches her fist during her round of 16 match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. |
Aryna Sabalenka improved to 13-0, moving on at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championship Wednesday night. The second seed added Jelena Ostapenko to the long list of players she has defeated this season, winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 on center court at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. Her dangerous forehands from beginning to end kept her flawless once more to enter the quarterfinals.
It was the second meeting between the two stars and the first for Sabalenka since she lifted the Australian Open title back in Melbourne. The newly ranked world number two did well in her match against Lauren Davis, smashing the American with an 88 percent first-serve performance. She allowed just one win during that victory that put her square in the face of Ostapenko. The Latvian went back to back in dominant performances, limiting the double faults while schooling her last two opponents. With this being the biggest challenge of her tournament, the defending champion had much to do to defeat the second seed and keep her repeat title hopes kicking.
The Latvian opened the match, breaking the 24-year-old’s service only to lose out on her own in the second. She continued with the breaks of serve in the third, pressuring Sabalenka to falter on returns in the competition. It worked out for Ostapenko on serve in the fourth, who managed to get the second serve winning points and hold off another break. The Latvian succeeded in a triple break of the second seed getting deep into the rallies before laying out the crosscourt winners.
Sitting ahead 4-1, Ostapenko kept her focus and returned to service, dealing with a couple errors from her side. At deuce, the 13th seed locked in and scored the game to lead 5-1 and go for the set. Sabalenka fought to hold serve for the first time in the set yet faced a long journey to recover. She didn’t make it easy for Ostapenko in the eighth game where she served for the set, but on a challenge for the AD point, the Latvian fired a winner that came back long. She became the second player this season to win a set over the 24-year-old and did so in 37 minutes.
The second was a turnaround for the second seed, who conducted a service hold and broke Ostapenko going forward. The 24-year-old consolidated for a 3-0 grip of the set, making it look as she would force a decider. The 13th seed tried to get a service game locked up but suffered a double fault and an error into the net. It brought the score to deuce where after two breaks, she got a win to move within two games of her opponent.
Sabalenka didn’t let that happen, winning the next two games while holding Ostapenko to 15 in each victory. On serve in the seventh, the second seed held Ostapenko twice, winning the set on the first break of deuce. It was a 32-minute improvement by the 24-year-old, who made the decider critical for both to perform well. Sabalenka won 14 of 18 from the first serve and returned best from the second.
The Latvian opened the deciding set, playing five points against the second seed before she was shut out in the second, leveling the score. Sabalenka fought through 11 points played in the third, breaking Ostapenko. The 24-year-old backed up the break for a 3-1 lead before holding her side of the court through another one of the Latvian’s service games. Sabalenka almost had a second shutout in line until an error brought Ostapenko into it.
She still managed to lock it up and lead 5-1 showing tremendous momentum. The second seed waited her time to strike on the ball, reach match point, and gain a second chance on a return winner. Ostapenko gifted the victory on her seventh double fault securing the win for the reigning Australian Open champion in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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