ORDER OF PLAY
CENTRE COURT -- 10:00 a.m. start
[4] Aryna SABALENKA (BLR) vs. [6] Elena RYBAKINA (KAZ)
[1] Sofia KENIN (USA) vs. [9] Maria SAKKARI (GRE)
Marta KOSTYUK (UKR) vs. Sara SORRIBES TORMO (ESP)
Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS) vs. [2] Elina SVITOLINA (UKR)
COURT 1 -- 11:00 a.m. start
Jennifer BRADY (USA) / Garbiñe MUGURUZA (ESP) vs. Laura SIEGEMUND (GER) / Vera ZVONAREVA (RUS)
[1] HSIEH Su-wei (TPE) / Barbora KREJCIKOVA (CZE) vs. [5] Shuko AOYAMA (JPN) / Ena SHIBAHARA (JPN)
After suitable rest
Arantxa RUS (NED) / Tamara ZIDANSEK (SLO) vs. Sofia KENIN (USA) / Ajla TOMLJANOVIC (AUS)
QF next 👊🏼😃 #AbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/ApBCQ8gwGu
— Sofia Kenin (@SofiaKenin) January 10, 2021
MATCH POINTS
No.1 seed Sofia Kenin takes a 2-0 head-to-head lead into her Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open quarterfinal against No.9 seed Maria Sakkari. The pair squared off at both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018, and Kenin won each time in three sets.
This is Kenin's first trip to a quarterfinal at any event in the Middle East. In her three previous main-draw appearances in the region, she reached the third round at 2019 Dubai, and lost her opening matches at 2020 Dubai and 2020 Doha (after a first-round bye).
No.2 seed Elina Svitolina lost her only previous clash with Veronika Kudermetova. Russia's Kudermetova upset Svitolina in a three-setter on home soil in Moscow in 2019.
Svitolina will be playing her third consecutive Russian opponent this week. She defeated former World No.2 Vera Zvonareva in the second round and No.17 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round.
Sunsets in Abu Dhabi 😍#AbuDhabiWTA pic.twitter.com/kdXQ9Um5CP
— wta (@WTA) January 10, 2021
No.4 seed Aryna Sabalenka and No.6 seed Elena Rybakina will face off for the second time on Monday. Sabalenka defeated Rybakina in three sets in the 2019 Wuhan quarterfinals; Sabalenka would go on to win that title.
Sabalenka is riding on a career-best 12-match winning streak. The last player she lost to was Ons Jabeur at 2020 Roland Garros -- and she avenged that loss on Sunday in the Abu Dhabi round of 16.
Rybakina will be seeking her fifth career Top 10 victory against World No.10 Sabalenka (she is 4-4 against Top 10 players overall). The Kazakh's first-ever win over a Top 10 opponent came over then-World No.7 Caroline Garcia at 2018 St. Petersburg.
Sara Sorribes Tormo defeated Marta Kostyuk in their only previous clash, which took place in the final qualifying round of 2018 Wimbledon. Sorribes Tormo won that match 7-5, 7-6(5) to claim a spot in the main draw of the grass-court Grand Slam that year.
