Revenge was served sweet and swift for Clara Tauson of Denmark as she caused a huge sensation at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday night, stunning World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in a Round of 16 clash on a day of upsets at the WTA 1000 event.
The 22-year-old Dane had suffered a third-round defeat to Sabalenka in the Australian Open. On Wednesday night, Tausopn was dominant and did not allow the Belarussian star any chances as she progressed to a WTA 1000 quarterfinal for the first time in her career.
Sabalenka was totally out of sorts in the last-eight stage match and crashed out of the tournament following a 3-6, 2-6 defeat to Tauson, who earned her first career win over a World No. 1 in emphatic fashion.
Last time I had my chances too, but didn’t take them. This time I felt really free and knew that she had to beat me; I was the underdog all the way, so I really enjoyed my time on the court and I’m just really looking forward to my next one.
Sabalenka was not the only top seed to fall too, with reigning champion Jasmine Paolini, World No.5 Jessica Pegula, and World No.9 Emma Navarro all exiting the event with defeats to unseeded opponents.
Tauson, the World No.38, claimed the biggest scalp though, with her emphatic win against three-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka, who has now failed to reach the last eight in Dubai from six of her nine attempts.
Dominating the Belarusian for close to an hour and a half, Tauson served seven aces, broke her opponent’s serve six times, and resolutely held the lead from as early as the third game. The Dane’s victory came just a month after suffering a third-round loss to Sabalenka at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka congratulated her opponent but was quick to lay blame squarely on herself.
[Clara] played great tennis, and I didn't play my best. That's it. She had a bit more preparation and was hungrier than me. Well done to her; not very well done to me.
Sabalenka added she needs to rethink her approach to the Middle East swing – which incorporates tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai – after a series of disappointments in recent years.
A winner in Qatar in 2020, the 26-year-old followed it up with victory in Abu Dhabi the following year but lost her first game in both Doha and Dubai last year and failed to show anything close to her best tennis at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Stadium this week.
Tauson will now face World No.35 Linda Noskova in the quarterfinals after the 20-year-old Czech beat fifth seed Pegula in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (8). The victory marked Noskova’s eighth Top 10 win and third Top 5 win, and she did it the hard way, saving two set points in the second-set tiebreak to defeat her American opponent and advance to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
The winner of that match will face either Karolina Muchova, who defeated American McCartney Kessler 6-3, 6-1,7-6 (5), or Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who beat Navarro 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5.
Meanwhile, in the other half of the draw, No.4 seed Paolini lost to wildcard Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-0 after breaking down in tears with an injury to her right ankle during the second set. World No.7 Elena Rybakina saved six match points before closing out a dramatic 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(2) victory against No.9 seed Paula Badosa.
The winner of Kenin-Rybakina will expect now to face World No.2 Iga Swiatek, who avoided an upset against Dayana Yastremska, overpowering her Ukrainian opponent 7-5, 6-0.
The 25th edition of the annual WTA 1000 event will end on February 22, before the 33rd staging of Dubai’s ATP Tour 500 tournament takes place from February 24 to March 1.