
Welcome to Winner’s Circle, a segment where we review each winner of every ATP and WTA tournament during the truncated 2020 season.
In this edition, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka exhibits a dominating display to win her third WTA title in six months at the 2020 Qatar Total Open in Doha.
Qatar Total Open
Winner: Aryna Sabalenka
After losing to eventual champion Simona Halep in the Dubai quarterfinals, Sabalenka was hungry for a better performance. Seeded ninth at the Qatar Open, the Belarusian received a first round bye. She then struggled against Estonian Anett Kontaveit in the second round, advancing with a 7-5 2-6 7-5 victory.
The 22-year old then easily dispatched of Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-0 in under an hour to reach her second consecutive quarterfinal. She would face China's Saisai Zheng in a match that lasted over two hours, prevailing 3-6 7-6(2) 6-3.
Sabalenka continued her fearless display in the semifinals, where she faced former Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The unseeded Russian had upset fourth seed Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals, but lacked the firepower to overcome Sabalenka. The big-hitting Belarusian overpowered Kuznetsova 6-4 6-3, and booked her spot in the final.
Awaiting Sabalenka was eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova, who had defeated top seed Ashleigh Barty in her semifinal match. With Kvitova having a 2-1 lead in career meetings, Sabalenka was hoping to even the score. Kvitova had lifted the Doha trophy in 2018, and was on a 10-match winning streak at the tournament. However, that came to an end as Sabalenka put on a stunning display of power tennis to outhit the former champion. The Belarusian hit seven aces and saved all five break points faced, before capturing the title with a 6-3 6-3 victory.
This would be the Belarusian's sixth WTA title, and it was even more impressive considering that was her first Doha appearance. The victory also saw her rise to World No.11, two spots shy of her career high ranking.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTcrAhJiHzo[/embed]
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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