Swiatek and Sabalenka experience mixed fortunes at Dubai Tennis Championships

Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships saw the two biggest guns on the WTA Tour enter the fray, but while one successfully navigated a tricky first encounter, the other seriously misfired.

World No 1 Iga Switaek and second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka are the two most dominant forces in women's tennis, winning five of the past eight Grand Slam titles between them. Both arrived in Dubai in ominous form, Switaek claiming her first trophy of the season by winning her third straight Qatar Open title and Sabalenka returning to action for the first time since defending her Australian Open crown.

By the end of Day 3 in Dubai, Swiatek maintained her winning run in the Middle East as Sabalenka began to pack her bags for the United States.

As two of the top eight seeds, Swiatek and Sabalenka received byes through to the second round, and neither was handed particularly easy introductions; awaiting Swiatek was former world No 4 and US Open champion Sloane Stephens, while Sabalenka was drawn against Donna Vekic, who had beaten her in five of their seven previous meetings.

Competing in the second match on the stadium court, Sabalenka experienced a monumental collapse. The Belarusian second seed led Croatia's Vekic by a set and a break, only to fall to a 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 defeat.

Two matches later – after Abu Dhabi champion and fourth seed Elena Rybakina scraped past Victoria Azarenka, who retired injured early in the third set – Swiatek battled past Stephens 6-4, 6-4 in a highly competitive contest.

Despite her poor record against Vekic, Sabalenka was still the heavy favourite for this match in Dubai. The world No 2 cruised to her second successive Australian Open title without dropping a set in her most recent outing. In