Breakthrough complete! Qualifier Bejlek wins first title in Abu Dhabi

2m read 07 Feb 2026 3h ago

Sara Bejlek, 2026 Abu Dhabi trophy (Getty)

Summary

Sara Bejlek, a 20-year-old Czech player, claimed her first WTA singles title at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets. Bejlek, ranked No. 101, won seven straight matches in the week, including victories over higher-ranked opponents. She will enter the Top 50 in the rankings after her remarkable performance.

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02:02:53

Czech 20-year-old Sara Bejlek completed a surprise run to her first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz singles title at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open on Saturday with a 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova -- her seventh win in eight days at the WTA 500 tournament.

Abu Dhabi: Scores | Draws | Order of play

The 20-year-old left-hander came into the tournament ranked No. 101 in the PIF WTA Rankings, and first needed to win two qualifying matches just to reach her second career WTA 500 main draw. Other milestones for the former Roland Garros junior doubles champion followed, including:

A second-round win over Jelena Ostapenko, the World No. 24, which (at the time) set a new career-best win by ranking
A first WTA semifinal appearance after a 6-0, 6-2 win over Sonay Kartal in the final eight
A 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 semifinal win over Clara Tauson, her first career Top 20 win

She doubled her career total of Top 20 wins against World No. 11 Alexandrova, as she pulled away from the No. 2 seed in 1 hour and 39 minutes after a tense first set.

While Bejlek led for much of it, Alexandrova looked on course to turn things around after saving two set points in the 12th game. She took a 4-2 lead at the change of ends in the tiebreak. But Bejlek, who won the first set in each of her prior matches, was not about to let that streak go, and won five of the final six points to take it.

She surged to the straight-set victory after breaking in the first game of the second set, and later winning 10 straight points en route to turning 2-1 to 5-1.

Bejlek is the second straight unseeded champion in Abu Dhabi, as last year, Belinda Bencic won the title as a wild card -- following a year-long break after the birth of her first child -- and is the first qualifier to take the crown in the event's five-year history. She is also its first Czech champion.

After reaching a career-high ranking of No. 75 in November of last year, Bejlek will blast past that into the Top 50 of the PIF WTA Rankings next week.

WTA Staff