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Match Details
Fixture: (1) Aryna Sabalenka vs Clara Tauson
Date: February 19, 2025
Tournament: Dubai Tennis Championships 2025
Round: Third Round (Round of 16)
Venue: Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $3,654,963
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN, TVA
Aryna Sabalenka vs Clara Tauson preview
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka will take on Clara Tauson in the third round of the Dubai Tennis Championships 2025.
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Sabalenka started the year with a title in Brisbane. It marked the perfect start before the Australian Open, where she was the two-time defending champion. She came close to winning her third title on the trot there but fell to Madison Keys in the final. Her Middle East swing started with a loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
After a first-round bye, Sabalenka was up against qualifier Veronika Kudermetova in her Dubai opener. The World No. 1 dropped her serve in the first game but bagged the next four games to race ahead 4-1. She kept a tight leash on the lead to soon claim the opening set.
Sabalenka drew first blood in the second set to go 4-3 up, only for Kudermetova to break back immediately to level the score. However, the Belarusian snagged another break of serve, and served out the match after that for a 6-3, 6-4 win,
Tauson beat Rebecca Sramkova 7-6 (7), 6-0 in the first round to set up a second-round date with Elina Svitolina. The Dane rallied from a break down in the first set to force a tie-break, in which she came out on top to take the set.
Svitolina looked down and out after Tauson went 3-0 up in the second set. However, the former turned the tables in the latter as she reeled off the next six games to capture the set. The Ukrainian overcame a break deficit in the third set to push the set to a tie-break but the Dane outplayed her in it to score a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (5) win.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Clara Tauson head-to-head
Sabalenka leads Tauson 1-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous meeting at this year's Australian Open in straight sets.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Clara Tauson odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Aryna Sabalenka vs Clara Tauson prediction
After an early exit from last week's Qatar Open, Sabalenka got back on track this week with a win over Kudermetova. While she didn't start the match on the right note, she recovered quickly to snap her two-match losing skid against the Russian. She won 71 percent of her first serve points in the previous round, an improvement from the 58 percent she put up during her loss last week.
Tauson survived a spirited challenge from Svitolina to win her opener. She needed multiple match points to get the job done after the decider blowing a 3-0 lead in the second set. She gave Sabalenka a tough fight when they met at the Australian Open a few weeks ago but lost the match in two competitive sets.
Both are among the tour's hardest hitters. However, Sabalenka's consistency in every aspect of the game compared to Tauson makes her the favorite to win this contest.
Pick: Aryna Sabalenka to win in three sets.
