Clara Tauson thumps Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai third-round upset

DUBAI—By her own estimation, Clara Tauson has been playing inspired tennis in 2025, saving some of her best for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where she avenged an Australian Open defeat to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in style, 6-3, 6-2.

"I was playing some great tennis and I felt like, after the match at the Australian Open, I really felt like I had a chance," Tauson told me after the match. "It was about taking my chances today, and I did—though I could have taken even more!"

Tauson, who was forced to retire from her first match at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last week due to illness, looked spry throughout the 83-minute victory, securing only her second career Top 10 win to book her ticket into her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

"Now that we've played twice, I feel like my pace may be even higher than hers—though she's obviously more consistent than I am! We play very similar games. I like the way she plays and the way the ball comes of the racquet. It's heavier, obviously, but I felt like I had a good read on it today, especially her second serve, which I had a lot of trouble with in Australia."

The 2019 junior Australian Open champion has long been touted as a future star, but her progress has been slowed by injuries and inconsistencies in the years since she won her first WTA title as a teenager in 2021. She started the 2025 season with a third career title and reached the third round of the Australian Open before losing to Sabalenka in two tough sets.

Sabalenka, who has won just one match since finishing runner-up at the Australian Open last month, was out of sorts from the beginning of the match, revealing she, like many players, has been suffering from an illness over the last few days.

"Right now I'm recovering, doing better. But yeah, last week been really tough for me," said the three-time major champion, who snapped a two-match losing streak against Veronika Kudermetova on Tuesday.

Still, Sabalenka did what she could to fight back in the second set, saving six break points in a marathon sixth game in the second set. Tauson was undaunted and reeled off the match's final two games to score the biggest upset of her career.

"I have no idea how I did it; I was pissed!" laughed Tauson before heading off to play doubles with American McCartney Kessler. "I felt like I did everything I could on those break points and she just played better than me. I went for my shots and she did too. I think she went for a drop shot that was probably one of the best drop shots I've seen on a break point.

"She was playing big tennis in the important moments but I was too."

Now that we've played twice, I feel like my pace may be even higher than hers—though she's obviously more consistent than I am! We play very similar games. I like the way she plays and the way the ball comes of the racquet. Clara Tauson on Aryna Sabalenka

Where Tauson is clearly hungry for more big-stage wins, Sabalenka admitted to feeling demotivated at this stage of the season, wondering aloud how to approach the Middle East swing in the future after regularly underperforming in the month of February.

"I'm kind of like all over the place in my thoughts and not consistent on the court," she said in her post-match press conference. "The decisions I'm making on the court are a bit wrong and emotionally I'm not on my best.

"I believe we need to change something in the preparation, or I'll probably just keep these events because every time I don't feel well playing here. Even health-wise I'm struggling. Australia always taking a lot of energy out of me."

After Tauson ends her night in doubles, the Dane will be back on court tomorrow for a quarterfinal meeting with fellow big-hitter, Linda Noskova.