Abu Dhabi Open: Elena Rybakina cruises past Daria Kasatkina to claim second WTA title of season after Brisbane success
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Updated 11/02/2024 at 15:47 GMT
Elena Rybakina was back to her dominant and free-flowing best by powering her way past Daria Kasatkina in a largely one-sided Abu Dhabi final. The 24-year-old responded in the best-possible fashion following her hugely disappointing Australian Open second-round exit at the hands of Anna Blinkova last month. Both players now turn their attention to the year's first WTA 1000 tournament in Doha.
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Elena Rybakina claimed her second title of the season with a dominant 6-1 6-4 victory over Daria Kasatkina in the Abu Dhabi Open final.
The Kazakhstan player got the job done in a mere one hour and 11 minutes to claim her seventh career title, after also overcoming Danielle Collins, Cristina Bucsa and Liudmila Samsonova en route to victory.
Despite the comprehensive defeat, Kasatkina has made a promising start to the season after playing in her second final at Abu Dhabi.
The 26-year-old also progressed to the final in Adelaide, where she was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Jelena Ostapenko.
Meanwhile, Rybakina’s triumph in the United Arab Emirates comes after her success at the Brisbane Open, which preceded a shock second-round exit to Anna Blinkova at the Australian Open.
Kasatkina surrendered her serve in only the second game, but broke back immediately to halve the deficit at 2-1.
However, the world No.14 failed to hold a single service game amid 16 unforced errors in a chastening first set which Rybakina claimed in 25 minutes.
The world No. 5 showed no signs of slowing down, breaking Kasatkina for a fourth time in the match to go 2-1 ahead in the second set.
That prompted somewhat of a revival for Kasatkina, who twice managed to break through Rybakina’s serve and would draw level at 4-4.
But any hopes of this match going into a third-set were quashed, as Rybakina showcased the best of her returning game to move 5-4 ahead after breaking the Russian for a fifth time.
Following a brief rain delay with the score at 30-30 in the 10th game, the 2022 Wimbledon champion served out for the match to secure a dominant victory.
Elsewhere, Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the doubles title with a 6-4 7-6(4) win over Linda Noskova and Heather Watson.
This was Kenin’s third doubles title and a first since winning alongside Mattek-Sands in Beijing five years ago.
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