Aryna Sabalenka (US Open Tennis - Twitter)
2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka squares off against 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
The Belarusian star has been in surreal form this season. After securing the title in the Adelaide International 1, Sabalenka went on to win her first Grand Slam title in the Australian Open. She is on a 12-match winning streak and has lost just one set in those 12 matches.
After receiving a bye into the second round in Dubai, Sabalenka made light work of Lauren Davis. The world No. 2 won the match in straight sets 6-0, 6-1. She converted 5 out of 7 break points and had a win percentage of 88 on the first serve. Sabalenka gave the talented American no chance to get into the match.
The Latvian No. 1 began the season by playing in the Adelaide International 1 where she was ousted by Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round. Ostapenko went on to play in the Adelaide International 2 but her campaign ended abruptly with a first-round loss to Anna Kalinskaya. In the Australian Open, Ostapenko made it to the quarterfinals where she lost to Elena Rybakina. Ostapenko’s campaign in the Abu Dhabi Open ended in the second round. Prior to the Dubai Tennis Championships, Ostapenko lost to Jessica Pegula in the second round of the Qatar Open.
Ostapenko has so far won both her matches in Dubai without dropping a set. In the first round, she defeated Katarina Zavatska 6-1, 6-4. The 25-year-old followed it up with another thumping win against the talented Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2, 6-0. She had a win percentage of 81 on the first serve.
Sabalenka has a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head scoreline so far. They faced each other in a WTA 125 event in China where Sabalenka won 6-1, 6-2.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in straight sets.
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