DUBAI RESULTS. Sabalenka gets by Mertens in the 2nd round

Aryna Sabalenka ousts Elise Mertens 6-4 6-3 in the 2^nd round in Dubai on Wednesday. Sabalenka will clash against Simona Halep in the 3^rd round.

Score, report, and key facts

1^st set.

Sabalenka won the set after recovering 2 times from a break down. In fact, after conceding her serve in the 3^rd (1-2) and in the 9^th (5-4) game. Sabalenka broke back 3 times in the 4^th (2-2), in the 8^th (5-3) and in the 10^th (6-4) game before winning the set 6-4.

Aryna failed to serve out the set when leading 5-3 to be broken at 30.

2^nd set.

Sabalenka started the set strong after breaking Mertens in the 2^nd game (2-0) before consolidating her break and lead 3-0. Anyhow, that was not enough for Aryna to win the set as Elise managed to break back in the 5^th (2-3) game. The Belarussian maintained her focus to break the Belgian in the 6^th (4-2) game before winning the set (6-3).

Statistics

At the end of the match, Sabalenka scored 71 points vs. the Belgian’s 54 points.

The Belarussian was well focused in converting 56% of the break points that she conquered (5/9). On the other side, the Belgian wasn’t that great in converting her break points (only 43% – 3/7). That was one of the key issues for her demise.

After this match, the head to head between Sabalenka and Mertens is 3-2 for Aryna.

Highlights Aryna Sabalenka vs. Elise Mertens Dubai Duty Free Championships – Dubai

Next Match H2H: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Simona Halep – stats

Sabalenka will come up against Halep in the 3^rd round.

This will be the 4^th time that Aryna Sabalenka and Simona Halep face off. The head to head is 2-1 for Halep (see full H2H stats), 2-1 on hard.

The last time that they played each other, Sabalenka won 6-4 6-2 in the quarter in Adelaide back in January 2020.

Tennis Scores in Dubai

• Garbine MuguruzaMuguruza – Veronika KudermetovaKudermetova (7-5 4-6 6-4) – See score progression
• Aryna SabalenkaSabalenka – Elise MertensMertens (6-4 6-3) – See score progression
• Petra MarticMartic – Barbora StrycovaStrycova (6-3 6-3) – See score progression
• Karolina PliskovaPliskova – Kristina MladenovicMladenovic (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
• Elena RybakinaRybakina – Katerina SiniakovaSiniakova (6-3 6-3) – See score progression
• Jennifer BradyBrady – Marketa VondrousovaVondrousova (4-6 6-4 6-1) – See score progression
• Simona HalepHalep – Ons JabeurJabeur (1-6 6-2 7-6(7)) – See score progression

Upcoming matches

• Simona HalepHalep – Ons JabeurJabeur (0-1) – See H2H details
• Anett KontaveitKontaveit – Anastasia PavlyuchenkovaPavlyuchenkova (3-2) – See H2H details
• Jennifer BradyBrady – Garbine MuguruzaMuguruza (0-0) – See H2H details
• Elena RybakinaRybakina – Karolina PliskovaPliskova (0-0) – See H2H details