Aryna Sabalenka vs Alize Cornet: Will it be a Tough Win for Aryna?

Aryna Sabalenka, the first racket of the Qatar tournament and the second racket of the world, missed the first round as a number one seed. In the second round, Aryna's opponent will be Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. They played twice in the tour. The score in the confrontation is 1:1 so far.

At the last tournament in Doha, Sabalenka reached the last 16, eventually losing in three sets to Muguruza, the future finalist. However, in 2020 Aryna triumphed in Qatar, so the courts in Doha are perfect for her. However, there are questions about the current form of Sabalenka. At the Australian Open, Aryna got to the fourth round, where she lost to the Estonian Kanepi in three sets. Already after AO, we saw Arina in Dubai: the victory over Kostyuk, and the victory, and the same confident defeat by Kvitova in two sets.

Cornet in Melbourne performed better than Sobolenko. She reached the quarterfinals but, without much chance, lost to Collins in two sets. After AO, we saw Alize in St. Petersburg, where Cornet could not even make it to the second round, falling in three games to Mertens. In Doha, the Frenchwoman managed to win one match and knocked out Russian Lyudmila Samsonova. The game against Samsonova lasted two hours and 27 minutes. Ludmila won the first game 6:3 but couldn't hold the initiative and lost 1:2 in a set. Cornet had two aces and six double faults and won 71% of the points on her first serve and 38% on her second serve. Alize showed good statistics on the reception: 39% on the first serve and 46% on the second.

A year ago, Sabalenka and Cornet played in Dubai, and Aryna beat the Frenchwoman 6:2, 6:4. The Belarusian is not in the best mood for the match in Doha as she was defeated by Kvitova in the UAE and had a lot of faults in recent games. Alize Cornet played well in Melbourne and had practice in Doha. In addition, Cornet already beat Sabalenka on the Roman court three years ago. If Aryna has not become any more robust, it will not be easy for the Belarusian to outplay Cornet. However, two years ago, the second racket of the world won in Qatar, so Sabalenka probably feels comfortable on local courts.