WTA Abu Dhabi: Aryna Sabalenka creates the title hat trick
Aryna Sabalenka has won the third WTA tournament in a row after Ostrava and Prague. The Belarusian defeated the Russian Veronika Kudermetova in two sets in the final in Abu Dhabi.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 13, 2021, 10:48 am
Winning is slowly becoming a habit for Aryna Sabalenka: who up until this event number ten in the WTA world rankings, has now also won the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi, the first event of the new year, after Ostrava and Linz. And at the same time the last one before most of the players headed for Australia and quarantine. Sabalenka prevailed 6: 4 and 6: 2 against Veronika Kudermetova in the final in Abu Dhabi.
Sabalenka has won 15 matches on the WTA tour in a row. And actually only had real problems in the very first game in this series: In Ostrava she was almost hopelessly behind against Cori Gauff, made the comeback in the third set and has been on the wave of success ever since. With the victory in Abu Dhabi, Sabalenka will reach a new career high in the WTA charts: seventh place. The last defeat was at the French Open 2020 in round three against Ons Jabeur. Overall, it was the ninth tournament success for the 22-year-old from Minsk.
Aryna Sabalenka is probably one of the favorites in the Australian Open 2021. Especially since she has a big advantage over players like Naomi Osaka , Simona Halep and especially Ashleigh Barty : match practice. Osaka has not shown since her triumph at the US Open, Halep ended her season after losing to Iga Swiatek in Roland Garros - and the world number one Barty did not play a single match after the Corona break.