Petra Kvitova defeats top seed Sabalenka in Dubai

Petra Kvitova continues to prove that she loves playing the Gulf with another stunning performance and victory.

This time around she defeated top seed Aryna Sabalenka quite convincingly in two sets 6-4 6-4. Neither player arrived in Dubai in good form with both of them struggling in Australia. Kvitova opted to play in St. Petersburg last week but got completely destroyed by Begu. After taking down Giorgi in round 1, Kvitova continued playing well today.

It was a very entertaining match that had a lot of winners and a lot of mistakes. It's only natural when two players with such aggressive playstyles play. Kvitova was a bit more consistent early as she was the one who took the break first. Her serving was shaky early on but stabilized as the match went on.

Sabalenka found some rhythm as well, especially towards the end of the first set but could not apply enough pressure on Kvitova to pull the break back. The Czech player won it 6-4 but found herself trailing 0-2 in the 2nd set. It came after a very good game by Sabalenka but the Belarussian could not quite get it done. Kvitova pulled the break back and added another one later.

She eventually closed it out with 6-4. Two very strong wins for Kvitova in Dubai and she is looking more and more confident. It was much needed after the poor start to the season.