Elena Rybakina downs Karolina Pliskova in Abu Dhabi

Thursday, 09 February 2023 at 18:03

Losing in the Australian Open final doesnt' seem to bother Rybakina as much as she's cruising comfortably in Abu Dhabi 6-4 6-2 past Pliskova.

It was a very interesting matchup on paper, but less so on the court as the big-serving Rybakina largely cruised in the affair. Two players who play very similar tennis - attacking and snappy and it worked out better for Rybakina. What was interesting in the opening set was that Pliskova served better than Rybakina and considering how much both players rely on it.

Rybakina was still able to get it done mainly due to her clean ball striking which was better than that of Pliskova the entire match. Both players had break points but Rybakina used one of the four she had in the opening set while her opponent didn't use any of the two.

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The second set went a bit easier for Rybakina as she broke Rybakina twice in that set to take it 6-2. Once again she didn't have her serve to work as well as she had hoped but she was incredible during play and didn't allow a single break point. It was just an all-around better display than that of Pliskova.