Sabalenka stunned by Krejcikova in Dubai quarter-finals for first defeat of 2023

24.02.2023 - 02:25 thenationalnews.com

Aryna Sabalenka suffered her first defeat of the season on Thursday after Barbora Krejcikova staged a remarkable comeback to book her place in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals.

Sabalenka, on a 13-match winning run which took in her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, looked on course for another dominant victory when she swept into a one-set lead.

But Krejcikova fought back from 1-3 down in the second set to level in a tiebreak before racing away with the decider for a superb 0-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory in four minutes shy of two hours.

It was a performance reminiscent of the form that guided the Czech to the French Open title in 2021 and up to a career-high No 2 in the world rankings just 12 months ago.

tennis Barbora Krejcikova Jessica Pegula Karolina Muchova France Usa Australia Czech Republic Dubai

Coco Gauff reached the quarter-finals of Indian Wells for the first time with a 6-3 1-6 6-4 victory over Rebecca Peterson, while Maria Sakkari beat Karolina Pliskova. Gauff looked to be in control when she won the first set 6-3, but her Swedish unseeded opponent fought back strongly in the second, levelling things up when she claimed the second 6-1.

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For a player who has been described as a “great problem solver”, Iga Swiatek might have been presented with her biggest problem to solve. In the last five months, Barbora Krejcikova has twice done what most of the WTA Tour has been unable to do over the last year: beat Swiatek. Ad Former French Open champion Krejcikova halted Swiatek’s dominance Middle East dominance in impressive fashion as she won the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 6-4 6-2 against the world No.

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