Aryna Sabalenka shifts focus to Qatar as she looks to put Australian Open disappointment behind her

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka admits she spent a full week thinking about her Australian Open final defeat to Madison Keys but has put it behind her as she shifts her focus to the continuing Middle East swing. Sabalenka was gunning for a third consecutive title in Melbourne last month but stumbled at the last hurdle with a three-set loss to the American. “This one was the toughest one. For a week I was still thinking about that match,” the Belarusian told reporters in Doha on Sunday. “Honestly, looking back and thinking about those two lost games [in the final set], I didn't do anything wrong, she just played out of her mind, and it was her day, there's nothing to regret. I think right now I'm fully recovered after that tough match.” Sabalenka is back competing at the Qatar Open for the first time since 2022. The tournament in Doha is the first WTA 1000 event of the season and is taking place from February 9 to 15 before the tour’s top players move on to the WTA 1000 in Dubai. A champion in Doha in 2020, Sabalenka says she’ll be treating these back-to-back tournaments in the Gulf as a warm-up for next month’s ‘Sunshine Doubles’, which consists of 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami in the United States. “The schedule is actually pretty tough, especially if you make it to the last stage of the Australian Open, then you don't have much time to recover and prepare yourself for these big events,” explained the three-time major champion. “I believe I'll just take these two tournaments as a preparation for the Sunshine one, and I'll try to build my tennis, and probably take my tennis to the next level in these two events.” The Middle East swing kicked off in Abu Dhabi last week, where Belinda Bencic clinched her first title since returning from maternity leave, less than 10 months after the birth of her daughter Bella. “That's impressive, honestly. She just came back, Australian Open she had a great run [to the fourth round], and now she's holding the trophy. It's amazing, I'm super happy for her, she definitely deserved that,” said Sabalenka of Bencic’s triumph over Ashlyn Krueger in the UAE capital. “As she said, she worked really hard for that, and it's good to see. It gives us hope that probably, whenever we’re all going to go for babies, we have a chance to come back if we want to,” added the top seed with a laugh. Sabalenka has a bye in the opening round in Doha and will begin her campaign against British wildcard Emma Raducanu or Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova. Iga Swiatek has won the last three editions of the tournament, and enters this year’s edition on a 12-match winning streak on Qatari soil. The second seed will open against Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse or former top-five player Maria Sakkari in Round 2. Three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur starts her campaign up against the American McCartney Kessler on Monday having reached the quarter-finals in Abu Dhabi. The Tunisian was beaten by the then reigning champion Elena Rybakina after a thrilling three-set battle at the International Tennis Centre. After an injury-plagued 2024, Jabeur insisted she is in a better place going into the Doha tournament. "Definitely more refreshed than one year ago,” she said. “Injury-wise, I am much better, and looking forward to play this season. “Comparing to last year, I think I was pretty tired, and I have couple injuries that didn't help me perform well, but this year is a new year, and definitely a better me, on and off the court.” And crowd favourite Jabeur can also expect extra backing from the Tunisian population in Doha. “I feel pretty grateful to be back, hopefully win some matches and have the crowd come back to support me,” she added. “It is very important to me to play good here, to win, and to inspire, you know, the younger generation from my country, from the Arab countries. “Yeah, this is, honestly, one of the most important tournaments, and I would trade this tournament for any of my other titles."

Aryna Sabalenka shifts focus to Qatar as she looks to put Australian Open disappointment behind her

World No 1 was denied third Melbourne title by Maddison Keys