Sabalenka takes third straight title with Abu Dhabi win
ABU DHABI: Aryna Sabalenka captured a third consecutive title by outclassing Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-2 in the Abu Dhabi final on Wednesday to extend her winning streak to 15 straight matches.
The 22-year-old from Belarus added a ninth singles trophy to her collection and will rise to a career-high number seven in the world when the new rankings are released next week.
Sabalenka, who ended her 2020 season by clinching backto-back titles in Ostrava and Linz, is also riding an 11-match winning streak in the Middle East, having triumphed in Doha on her last previous visit to the region 11 months ago.
Sabalenka drew first blood, breaking for a 4-2 advantage by using the same suffocating kind of tennis that has kept her undefeated since the French Open third round last October. She took a comfortable oneset lead in 26 minutes.
It was one-way traffic for the 22-year-old until Kudermetova finally managed to end a sixgame losing run by breaking the Sabalenka serve for 1-2 in the second set.
The fourth seed retaliated immediately though to reclaim control of the contest and it was all over in 65 minutes.
On Teusday ,Sabalenka needed just 61 minutes to wrap up her 6-3, 6-2 success over the ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka, who ended her 2020 season by picking up back-to-back titles in Ostrava and Linz, completed an Arabian Gulf hat-trick against Sakkari, having also defeated the Greek in Dubai and Doha 11 months ago.
The longest winning streak in WTA history was Martina Navratilova's 74-match run in 1984.
"It's an unbelievable number. Of course I'd like to go this far and I'll do everything I can to keep winning, so we'll see," said Sabalenka of Navratilova's record.
"I think I'm putting my focus on the right space, I'm just focusing on the right things and this helps me to, first of all, not think about all these wins and secondly to keep winning.
"I think I need to keep focusing on my game, on my movement on the court and try to do everything I can in the moment and I think that works really well with me." AFP