On February 20, the second round of the WTA1000 Dubai Championship was in full swing, and in a match that had just ended, the game broke out a big upset. Sabalenka, the women's singles champion of this year's Australian Open and world No. 2, made a lot of mistakes against Vekic, and finally lost to the world No. 31 Vikic in a -6 upset. It was Sabalenka's first appearance since winning the Australian Open, and it was a shame that she was out on her debut.
Sabalenka is currently ranked No. 2 in the world and is one of the strongest women's singles players today. Sabalenka defended her Australian Open title this year and became a two-time Australian Open champion. Her upset shot is her killer feature, and her power is very strong.
Sabalenka missed last week's Doha 1000 and had a three-week break before returning to Dubai this week as the favourite. Sabalenka is the No. 2 seed and has a first-round bye going straight to the second round. In the second round, Sabalenka's opponent was Vekic who defeated Wang Xinyu in the first round. Vekic is ranked 31st in the world, which is a huge gap from Sabalenka's current position. Sabalenka's odds are 108, Vekic is 800。
In the first set, the two sides staged a break battle, and Sabalenka led 5-3. Vekic broke again in the ninth game to tie the score at 5-5. Sabalenka missed three set points at 40-0 in the 12th game and was held by Vekic, and the two sides finally went into a tie-break. In the tie-break, Sabalenka led the first round and finally won 7-5.
In the second set, Vekic started the game behind again, starting 0-2. However, she quickly adjusted and immediately broke back to tie the score at 2-2. Vekic exploded again after 3-3, winning three games in a row to win 6-3 easily.
In the third set, Vekic got off to a perfect start, making two consecutive breaks to make a 4-0 start. Sabalenka double-faulted and sent the score to 0-5. Vekic became more and more courageous, easily held serve in the 6th game, won 6-0, won 2-1 in a big reversal, and advanced to the third round in an upset.
At full-time, Sabalenka made eight double faults and won four of her 14 break points. Vekic also had five double faults, but won seven of his 10 break points and took his chances.
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