Aryna Sabalenka loses to Donna Vekic in Dubai opener tennis news

Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka suffered a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-0 opening round defeat at the hands of familiar rival Donna Vekic in Dubai on Tuesday. Contesting her first match since her successful title defense at Melbourne Park, Sabalenka raced to a 7–6, 2–0 lead over her Croatian opponent in two hours and 22 minutes. The 31st-ranked Vekic, who now owns a 6-2 head-to-head lead in lifetime encounters against Sabalenka, was aggressive throughout the match and looks to make her next clash with big-hitting Romanian Sorana Cristea in search of her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Entering the competition. The last of his career. “The whole time I didn’t give up. I never stopped believing I could win. I just kept fighting,” said Vekic, who is 9-13 against top-five opponents.

“To be honest, I didn’t have any big expectations coming to Dubai. I told my coach that I was taking this week as a half-vacation. I can tell you that I spent more time on the beach than on the court. Time spent. Maybe that’s a good way to go,” he said, laughing.

In windy but hot conditions in Dubai, Sabalenka recovered from a break down to lead 5–3 before taking the opening set on her sixth opportunity in the space of 69 minutes.

The world number two raced to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Vekic fought back and grabbed another crucial break in the eighth game to level the match and force a decider.

With the wind in his sails, Vekic went on a nine-game winning run, toppling his powerful opponent, delivering a bagel in the final set and sealing his place in the last 16.

Earlier on Center Court, eighth seed Maria Sakkari broke a three-match losing streak and won in the Dubai main draw for the first time by defeating in-form American Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-4 at her fourth attempt. achieved.

After early exits in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Sakkari was nervous ahead of his clash with Navarro, already a title winner in 2024 with 13 wins in the first two months of the season.

“It was very hard. Last night I couldn’t sleep just because I was thinking about it so much and it wasn’t easy. No one wants to keep losing in the first round. But I told myself to make it the first round of the season.” Consider it a match.” , Obviously it wasn’t my best, best tennis, but it was good enough to beat a top-form player,” said Sakkari, who will next face Leyla Fernandez or Jasmine Paolini.

Sakkari are looking for a new coach after ending their six-year partnership with Tom Hill. The Greek world No. 11 worked briefly with Sergi Bruguera during the offseason and after the Australian Open, but given Bruguera’s commitment to ATP player Arthur Fils, he needs to find a full-time coach. They are confident they will have a new coach in place by the time Indian Wells starts next month.

Speaking about her split with Hill, Sakkari said: “It was very hard. I felt like we couldn’t really help each other, we couldn’t move on but we became very, very good friends. Have happened, it will never change.”

In Dubai, Sakkari will be joined by her mother Angelique, a former top 50 WTA player, and her hitting partner Julian Cagnina.

“She’s my emergency coach, that’s what I call her,” Sakkari said of his mother. “It’s nice to have him, we’ve been going out for dinner every day, it’s been a very relaxing week with him.”

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