Aryna Sabalenka is out of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

The Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) is out of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after losing to Donna Vekic by 1-2 (7:6, 3:6, 0:6) in 2:23 hours of play.

The Belarusian tennis player took the first set hard and broke in the second and the Croatian player was on the verge of going 0:3 down but saved her serve and then made an impressive return. Donna Vekic won 12 of the next 13 games to defeated the world’s number two and to qualify for the next round, where will face Sorana Cistea (Romania).

“I didn’t give up. I didn’t stop believing that I could win. I almost took a vacation last weekend, I spent more time on the beach than on the court. Maybe that’s a good way to progress”, said Donna Vekic, 27, after the success.

Sorana Cirstea qualified for the next phase after defeating the 13th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) by 2-0 (6:1, 6:4).

Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic also advanced, defeating Ashlyn Krueger (USA) in three sets by 2-1 (6:7, 6:3, 6:4). In the next round, she will face Cori Coco Gauff (USA), who defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Italy) by 2-0 (6:1, 7:5)