Aryna Sabalenka the Belarusian tennis player had no problems with her serve when she started the Qatar Open in Doha in 2022.
In fact, the first seed played mercilessly when he carved out a 6-2, 6-2 victory over French tennis player Alize Cornet in the second round of the Qatar Open.
The 2020 Qatar Open champion faced no break points in 74 minutes and only committed four double fouls, his lowest number of double fouls in his last nine games this season.
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“It’s definitely not easy. It was a really tough match. He played really well. He cornered me very much,” said Aryna Sabalenka.
“I expect long rallies in this match and I am preparing for such rallies. The strategy is to stay in the points as long as possible, corner as much as possible and serve well.”
One of six Qatar Open champions to appear this week, the Belarusian thwarted Cornet’s bid for a fourth win over the seed in the first two months of the season with a fine performance. After 1-1, he never fell behind.
The first seed finished the match with 22 winners and hit eight winners, while Cornet hit 28 winners but made 34 unforced errors.
With the win, Sabalenka went 2-1 up in head to head against Cornet with two wins he made in the Middle East. 12 months ago, he beat the French tennis player in Dubai.
In the third round, Sabalenka will meet Swiss tennis player Jil Teichmann who overthrew Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck 7-6, 7-5.
On another court, Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur had to play extra hard to knock out Sabalenka’s compatriot, Aliaksandra Sasnovich. He had to bounce back after losing the first set to seal a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win in the second half.
“It’s never easy to play against him. He’s a very good player and he has played three matches. So, it’s not easy to re-enter the field and play the game,” admitted Jabeur.
“The first set was really difficult for me. I tried to stay calm in the second set and tried to play my game. It wasn’t easy and I’m relieved, even if I didn’t play well in the first set, I was able to come back and play my game.”
Waiting for Jabeur in the third round is the Czech tennis player, Tereza Martincova, who beat Arantxa Rus 6-2, 6-4.
Sixth seed Maria Sakkari impressed with a 6-3, 6-3 win over American Ann Li and booked a third round match against Li’s compatriot Jessica Pegula after the ninth seed eliminated Kaja Juvan 6-3, 6 -3.
