Maria Sakkari vs. Aryna Sabalenka 1/12/20 - WTA Abu Dhabi, UAE Women Singles Picks & Predictions
Last Updated: 01/11/2021 at 11:58 AM ET
Greek tennis superstar Maria Sakkari has made it into the semifinals of the 2021 WTA Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE. At this stage of the tournament, Sakkari is set to play against Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
Aryna Sabalenka enters this match having won her previous outing in 3 sets. Sabalenka won her opening set but lost the second set only to fight back and win in the last set. It was a solid performance for Aryna Sabalenka as she won 87% of her service games and 3 return games. Sabalenka has had a tough draw in this tournament but she has looked very strong and will be entering this match with hopes of making the final in the first tournament of the 2021 season.
On the other side of the coin, Maria Sakkari will also be hoping to make the final of this tournament with the Greek superstar looking very confident having defeated the top seed, Sofia Kenin, in the previous round. Sakkari lost the opening set but was dominant in the final 2 sets where she only lost 2 games. Maria Sakkari was very impressive while receiving as she won over 50% of her return points which allowed her to break her opponent’s serve on 6 occasions. Sakkari has already defeated Coco Gauff and Garbine Muguruza at this tournament and is looking well placed to challenge for the title.
Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari have played each other 4 times in the past with Aryna Sabalenka winning on 3 occasions and Maria Sakkari winning once. The most recent match between these two players was in 2020 at Doha where Aryna Sabalenka won in straight sets. Maria Sakkari last defeated Aryna Sabalenka in 2019 at the Cincinnati Masters.
Looking at all the information, I am going to pick Maria Sakkari to win this match. Sakkari has been in better touch and her receiving ability looks too strong at the moment. This should be a close match but I see Sakkari winning and reaching the final of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Open.
