Rybakina rolls to second title this season

Elena Rybakina collected her second WTA title in as many months on Sunday with a 6-1, 6-4 thrashing of Daria Kasatkina in the Abu Dhabi final.

The Kazakh winner who lifted Wimbledon honours in 2022 added the Gulf trophy to her Brisbane success from the first week of January.

The world No. 5 winner now owns seven career titles and was playing in the UAE capital as a top seed for only the second time in her career.

“I came into this week without expectations because I had some issues (second-round defeat) in Melbourne,” the winner said.

“I’m just trying to get as many matches as I can. Really proud about this week. With every match I felt more confident.”

Rybakina stands 11-2 on the season, two less than leader Jelena Ostapenko’s 13 in 2024.

Kasatkina dropped her second final since January after losing to Ostapenko in the Adelaide final

Kasatkina will forge ahead to this week’s event in Doha, where she faces a match on Monday against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova less than 24 hours after playing the UAE final.