The in-form Aryna Sabalenka faces 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday.
The world No. 2 is in the form of her life. She has become the first female player to win 13 consecutive matches at the start of the year since Serena Williams won 24 matches on the trot back in 2015. Out of the 28 sets she played in 2023, Sabalenka has won 26.
Sabalenka began the tournament with a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win against Lauren Davis in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. The second seed converted 5 out of 7 break points in the match and had a win percentage of 88 on the first serve. In the second round, Sabalenka came back from a set down to comprehensively defeat 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. Sabalenka had 25 winners and 17 unforced errors to her name and she wasn’t broken in the second and third sets.
The 27-year-old came into the tournament on the back of a first-round exit in the Qatar Open. Out of the three matches she won in the tournament so far, Krejcikova has defeated two seeded players.
Krejcikova began her campaign in Dubai with a thumping win against Irina-Camelia Begu. The Czech star won the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. In the second round, Krejcikova saved four match points and defeated 7th seed Daria Kasatkina in a thrilling three-set encounter 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. 12th seed Petra Kvitova faced Krejcikova in the round of 16. The latter played some spectacular tennis to win the match 6-3, 6-2 to sail into the quarterfinals.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 2-0 in favor of Aryna Sabalenka. Their most recent encounter came in the 2021 US Open quarterfinals.The Belarusian star won 6-1, 6-4.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in straight sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates