Vekic stuns Sabalenka; Rybakina advances as Azarenka retires
Dubai, UAE - Donna Vekic improved her strong record against Aryna Sabalenka in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, coming from a set and a break down to defeat the No.2 seed 67(5), 6-3, 6-0 in 2 hours and 22 minutes.
No.3 seed Elena Rybakina avoided the upset, however. A champion two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi and the runner-up in
Doha last week, Rybakina dropped the first set to Victoria Azarenka. But the two-time Dubai champion was in increasingly visible discomfort as the match progressed, and Rybakina advanced 4-6, 6-2 retired after Azarenka was forced to pull the plug.
Vekic's win is her sixth in eight encounters with Sabalenka dating back to 2016, including victories at the Tokyo Olympic
Games in 2021 and the 2022 San Diego quarterfinals.
It was the eighth Top 5 win of the Croat's career, and first since she upset Elena Rybakina in the 2023 Berlin second round; her only previous defeat of a player ranked No.2 or higher was over Petra Kvitova in the 2019 St. Petersburg quarterfinals.
Sabalenka was making her first appearance since successfully defending her Australian Open crown last month, and after coming through a tight first set held a point for a doublebreak lead in the second set.
However, the rest of the match saw her outhit by an increasingly dominant Vekic, who landed 14 aces and rattled through 12 of the last 13 games of the match.
Vekic will next face Sorana Cirstea, who defeated No.13 seed Veronika Kudermetova 61, 6-4. Vekic, who has reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals in her career to date, will be bidding to reach the last eight of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time.
Also in the bottom half of the draw, Wimbledon champion and No.7 seed Marketa Vondrousova came through 6-1, 57, 6-2 over Peyton Stearns -- her third win over the American in