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Post by Admin on Feb 9, 2023 20:46:22 GMT
Watch the Match Highlights between Elena Rybakina & Karolina Pliskova at the 2023 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
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Post by Admin on Feb 10, 2023 18:03:19 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2023 16:31:24 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 20, 2023 19:36:56 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 21, 2023 5:16:09 GMT
Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina clinched a spot in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by defeating another Grand Slam champion, Bianca Andreescu, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.
Two more major champions, Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka, joined 2020 Dubai runner-up Rybakina in the second round. Here are takeaways from the day:
First-strike tennis pays off for Rybakina: No.9 seed Rybakina held off 2019 US Open champion Andreescu in 1 hour and 32 minutes, using the power game that steered her to her 2022 Wimbledon title as well as this year's Australian Open final.
Read more: Swiatek, Rybakina among Laureus World Sports Award nominees
As usual, aces were key for Rybakina -- she had six. Additionally, Rybakina attacked Andreescu's second service, winning nearly 80 percent of those points to help her attain four service breaks.
Mental game clutch for the Kazakh: Rybakina's steeliness was just as important. Things could have been very different in the first set as Rybakina stared down two break points in the first game, but she erased those before breaking for 2-0 and holding that lead for the rest of the set.
In the second set, Rybakina pointed to her temple during a comeback from 3-1 down, as her well-executed groundstrokes wore down former World No.4 Andreescu's all-court guile.
"The second set, a few mistakes, a few good returns from Bianca, and I turned around and I was down," Rybakina said.
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