Relentless Sabalenka vanquishes Sakkari in the semifinal of the Abu Dhabi Tennis Open. HIGHLIGHTS, INTERVIEW – ABU DHABI RESULTS

Aryna Sabalenka makes light work of Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-2 in the semifinal in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after playing a tremendous match to play Veronika Kudermetova in the final.

Live score progression and stats

Sabalenka had a pretty good kick start of the set after breaking Sakkari in the 2^nd game (2-0) before consolidating her break and lead 3-0. Yet, there was more work to do for Sabalenka to win the set because Sakkari managed to break back in the 7^th (2-5) game.

Aryna failed to serve out the set when leading 5-1 to be broken at 40.

Aryna was spot on in converting all her break points in the 2^nd (1-0 15-40) and the 6^th game (4-1 0-40). On the other side, Sakkari converted 33% of her break points (1/3). She had her opportunities in the 7^th game (1-5 15-40, 30-40 and 40-A).

They contested 46 points. Sabalenka was the winner of the set after clinching 16 points more than Sakkari (31-15). The Belarussian surrendered 6 points on serve (19-6). In addition, on the other side, Sakkari conceded 12 points on serve (9-12).

Sabalenka in this set didn’t concede much to the Greek and without many problems she won 6-2 after breaking Maria in the 5^th (3-2) and in the 7^th (5-2) game.

Maria was powerless in the last 5 games of the set when the score went from 1-2 to 6-2.

The Belarussian converted 28% of her break points (2/7). She had 7 break points opportunities in the 5^th (2-2 0-40, 15-40, 30-40, 40-A and 40-A) and the 7^th game (4-2 0-40 and 15-40). On the other side, Sabalenka didn’t concede a single break point during this set.

They contested 49 points. Sabalenka won 13 points more than Maria (31-18). Aryna was extremely solid on serve to drop just 4 points (16-4). on the other side of the net, Maria conceded 15 points on serve (14-15).

Stats: aces, double faults, breaks, winners

Sabalenka

Sakkari

6-3 6-2
1h:01

62

62

Total points

33

33

24

24

Winners

18

18

39%

39%

Ratio Winners

55%

55%

-- Serve --

8

8

Aces

2

2

1

1

Double Faults

5

5

64%

64%

1st in

62%

62%

83%

83%

1st won

58%

58%

24/29

24/29

1st won

18/31

18/31

69%

69%

2nd won

26%

26%

11/16

11/16

2nd won

5/19

5/19

-- Break Points --

4/9

4/9

Total

1/3

1/3

44%

44%

Won

33%

33%

See Full Stats

At the end of the match, Sabalenka scored 62 points vs. the Greek’s 33.

Sabalenka served very well to win 83% of the points (24/29) behind her first serve, and she won 69% points (11/16) on her second serve. The Belarussian won this match even if she had a tough time converting her break points after she converted only 44% (4/9) of the procured opportunities. On the other side, the Greek was struggling to find the solution in converting her break points (only 33% – 1/3). That was one of the key issues for her defeat.

After this match, the head to head between Sabalenka and Sakkari is 4-1 for Aryna.

Highlights Aryna Sabalenka vs. Maria Sakkari Abu Dhabi Tennis Open – Abu Dhabi

Sabalenka’s Interview

Draw and next match H2H: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Veronika Kudermetova – stats

Sabalenka will face Kudermetova in the final.

This will be the 2^nd time that Aryna Sabalenka and Veronika Kudermetova play each other. The head to head is 1-0 for Sabalenka (see full H2H stats), 1-0 on hard.

Tennis Scores in Abu Dhabi

• Veronika KudermetovaKudermetova – Marta KostyukKostyuk (7-6⁸ 6-4) – Stats and score progression
• Aryna SabalenkaSabalenka – Maria SakkariSakkari (6-3 6-2) – Stats and score progression

Upcoming matches

• Aryna SabalenkaSabalenka – Veronika KudermetovaKudermetova (0-0) – H2H details and stats