Even by this tournament's standards, the field assembled at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships this week is something special. Eighteen of the world's top 20 were part of the lineup at the start of the week and the two missing would almost certainly have been involved under different circumstances; Tunisian star Ons Jabeur recovering from injury while two-time champion Simona Halep is serving a provisional doping ban.
But even among this fiercely competitive field, two players stand above the rest: one the undisputed best player in the world, the other the undisputed best player of the year - and both got their campaigns underway at the second-round stage on Tuesday.
First it was the turn of Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 2 fresh from a 23-day rest and recuperation period following her Grand Slam breakthrough at the Australian Open. Could more than three weeks away from competitive action have an adverse effect and halt the momentum of her perfect start to the season?
The answer was, quite emphatically, no. The Belarusian second seed needed just 59 minutes to wrap up the win against Lauren Davis, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory and stretching her winning run in 2023 to 12 matches. Sabalenka will next be involved in arguably the tie of the third round against defending champion Jelena Ostapenko.
"You know, these 23 days felt a little bit different because after winning such a big tournament, I needed these few days off," Sabalenka, 24, said. "Then I start practicing again, so it didn't feel like 23 days.
"I worked hard, I worked a lot. The rest of the players were playing tournaments, so I had to be really ready for the first match. I'm super happy with the win."
Not to be outdone, and in the latest reminder of why
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