ABU DHABI • Aryna Sabalenka will head to Melbourne to begin her two-week quarantine knowing she is arguably the most in-form player on the WTA Tour at the moment.
The Belarusian won a joint-highest three WTA titles last season alongside Wimbledon champion Simona Halep and despite the women's circuit ending prematurely in early November - only two events were staged after the French Open - her hot form has not let up. Sabalenka won those two tournaments in Ostrava, Czech Republic and Linz, Austria and yesterday signalled her intent to challenge for the Australian Open after clinching the WTA season-opener in Abu Dhabi.
She claimed a 6-2, 6-2 win over Russia's Veronika Kudermetova, who was broken six times, to seal the WTA 500 event and extend her winning streak to 15 matches.
She will rise three spots to a career-best world No. 7 on Monday.
"I am really proud of the fact that I was fighting no matter what," the 22-year-old said. "Some matches, I did not feel my serve, some matches backhand, forehand.
"But I was like, 'Just keep fighting'. That's why I am really proud of and happy with this title."
It was the ninth title overall for the fourth seed, who will now head to Melbourne for a mandatory 14-day quarantine before the warm-up events start from Jan 31 ahead of the Australian Open.
The rising Sabalenka will be considered a dark horse at the Feb 8-21 hard-court Grand Slam at Melbourne Park even though a first Major has yet proved elusive.
"I will keep improving my game, keep working on some things," she said. "It's not about just staying in shape, there's always something to work on and to improve.
"As soon as you stop working on improving your game, you will start losing. My biggest dream is to win a Grand Slam. I think we all have the same dream, so nothing really special."
In Turkey, Australian Alex de Minaur warmed up for his home Slam with a title yesterday, winning the ATP season-opening Antalya Open after fellow finalist Alexander Bublik retired injured after just seven minutes of play.
The world No. 23 was 2-0 up in the first set when the Kazakh withdrew. He later said he hoped his win would lead to a "great Aussie summer", having missed last year's Open through injury.
REUTERS
