DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Aryna Sabalenka misplaced her first match since efficiently defending her Australian Open title when she was overhauled by an previous foe on the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.
The No. 2-ranked Sabalenka blew a set and 2-0 lead as Donna Vekic of Croatia rallied to win 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0 within the second spherical.
No. 3 Elena Rybakina prevented an upset when Victoria Azarenka retired in misery. Azarenka received the primary set 6-4 however misplaced the second 6-2 in rising ache.
Sabalenka and Vekic return eight years on the tour, and Vekic dominated the early matchups. However Sabalenka made the Grand Slam breakthrough when she beat Vekic within the Australian quarterfinals a 12 months in the past en path to her first main title.
Vekic referenced Sabalenka profitable “the large one” amongst their profession matchups on Tuesday, however her sixth win of their eight contests wasn’t too shabby, both.
Sabalenka led 5-3 earlier than settling the primary set in a tiebreaker. Sabalenka, coming off a three-week layoff after her Melbourne triumph, then led 2-0 with some extent for 3-0.
“I used to be on the seashore already,” Vekic stated, however a sliced backhand passing winner that Sabalenka let go saved the sport and launched Vekic’s comeback.
“I received the primary set. I used to be up with break. I did not really feel like I used to be up,” Sabalenka stated. “The extent of play was so dangerous immediately from me. I really feel just like the situations right here do not match me properly in any respect.”
Staying aggressive however with bettering accuracy, Vekic received the subsequent three video games, broke for 5-3 and served out to stage the set rating after almost two hours.
Sabalenka, pressured to her first three-set match of the 12 months, confirmed extra second serves and exasperation, and Vekic was cruel. A sixth double fault by Sabalenka put her 3-0 down within the third and two extra double faults dropped her 5-0 behind. Moments later, Vekic received a ninth straight sport and wrapped up her first win over a top-two participant since 2019.
Additionally, Wimbledon champion and No. 7 seed Marketa Vondrousova defeated Peyton Stearns 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 for the third time in eight months.
No. 8 Maria Sakkari and former champions Jelena Ostapenko and Elina Svitolina additionally superior to the final 16.
