Elena Rybakina secured her second championship of the year by triumphing over Daria Kasatkina in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open, with a commanding score of 6-1, 6-4.
The Kazakhstani athlete completed the task in a swift one hour and 11 minutes, earning her seventh career title. Along her path to victory, Rybakina also conquered Danielle Collins, Cristina Bucsa, and Liudmila Samsonova.
Despite the comprehensive loss, Kasatkina displayed promise at the start of the season, reaching her second final in Abu Dhabi.
The 26-year-old player also advanced to the championship match in Adelaide but unfortunately lost with a score of 6-3 6-2 against Jelena Ostapenko.
On another note, Rybakina’s victory in the United Arab Emirates follows her win at the Brisbane Open, which was followed by a surprising early elimination by Anna Blinkova in the second round of the Australian Open.
Kasatkina experienced a setback when she lost her serve in the second game, but quickly recovered by breaking back, reducing the margin to 2-1.
Nevertheless, the player ranked 14th globally was unable to successfully maintain any of her service games due to committing 16 unforced errors during a challenging first set, which her opponent Rybakina won in just 25 minutes.
Undeterred, the player ranked 5th continued to display her dominance by breaking Kasatkina’s serve for the fourth time in the match, giving her a 2-1 lead in the second set.
This turn of events sparked a comeback for Kasatkina, who managed to break through Rybakina’s serve twice and even the score at 4-4.
However, any aspirations for the match to extend into a third set were crushed when Rybakina displayed her exceptional skills in returning, taking a 5-4 lead after breaking the Russian player for the fifth time.
After a brief interruption due to rain when the score was tied at 30-30 in the tenth game, the reigning Wimbledon champion served out the match, securing a commanding victory.
In a separate event, Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands emerged as the winners of the doubles title, defeating Linda Noskova and Heather Watson with a score of 6-4, 7-6(4).
Kenin clinched her third doubles championship, marking her first victory in this category since partnering with Mattek-Sands in Beijing half a decade ago.
