World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is ramping up her preparations for the 2025 season by competing in the World Tennis League, which kicked off at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi this week.
The Belarusian, who was successful in both singles and doubles on the opening day of the exhibition event on Thursday, has once again chosen the UAE for her pre-season training block, and has been staying and practising at Atlantis the Royal hotel on Palm Jumeirah these last few weeks.
Sabalenka also made an appearance at the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix earlier this month, where she was a guest of the Alpine team.
“I love it, it’s so cool to watch,” she told The National after defeating familiar rival Elena Rybakina in a tiebreak set on Thursday.
“I think those guys in those cars are incredibly tough people and it’s really inspiring to see them doing their thing.”
Sabalenka returned to the summit of the rankings last month, leapfrogging Iga Swiatek to secure the year-end No 1 spot.
She will start 2025 leading Swiatek by 1,121 points in the rankings but will have to work hard in order to stave off the Polish star, especially given she has 2,000 points to defend at the Australian Open next month.
“You cannot be confident on that. It’s a mental thing,” Sabalenka said of her chances of keeping the No 1 ranking.
“Of course I’d like to stay there as long as possible and I’m working really hard for that, so let’s see how next season is going to be.”
A champion in Melbourne in 2023 and 2024, Sabalenka is looking to become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1999 to win a third consecutive Australian Open crown.
“It would mean a lot,” she said of her potential threepeat Down Under.
“I think the key is just to focus on yourself and on bringing your best each time you play, whether it’s Australia or any other country, you just have to bring your best every time and hope for the best.”
The 26-year-old assures there is still a lot more she wants to achieve in the sport and has been focused with her team on adding more weapons to her arsenal “so that whenever I have a tough situation on court, I have whatever I need to close the match”.
The three-time grand slam champion says she’s rarely short on motivation, but whenever she feels like she needs an extra push, she has her own way of sparking that inner drive.
“Sometimes when I feel like I need that drive, which is not very often, I just remember where I started and how much I wanted to be where I am right now and that drives me crazy and that’s what helps me to stay motivated and stay hungry all the time,” she explained.
Sabalenka is part of a star-studded field at the World Tennis League, which also features Swiatek, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and a returning Nick Kyrgios, who is set to make his first appearance on tour since June 2023 in Brisbane later this month.
Swiatek completed a one-month doping suspension due to contamination of melatonin she was taking as a sleep aid on December 4, and took to the court in Abu Dhabi on Thursday in both singles (against Jasmine Paolini) and doubles (alongside Paula Badosa).
Asked about her reaction to Swiatek’s positive doping test, Sabalenka said: “People are really used to overreacting before figuring stuff out, so I don’t want to leave any comments. I believe in clean sport and nothing else I can add.”
The World Tennis League, which features a combination of tennis matches and musical concerts, will continue its third season throughout the weekend in Abu Dhabi and will conclude on Sunday, December 22.
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Tomorrow 2021
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
BRIEF SCORES
England 353 and 313-8 dec
(B Stokes 112, A Cook 88; M Morkel 3-70, K Rabada 3-85)
(J Bairstow 63, T Westley 59, J Root 50; K Maharaj 3-50)
South Africa 175 and 252
(T Bavuma 52; T Roland-Jones 5-57, J Anderson 3-25)
(D Elgar 136; M Ali 4-45, T Roland-Jones 3-72)
Result: England won by 239 runs
England lead four-match series 2-1
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
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- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
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Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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Plastic tipping point
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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Explained
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RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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Company%20Profile
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