Elena Rybakina cruises past Daria Kasatkina to claim Abu Dhabi title

Top seed Elena Rybakina defeated Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-4 in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open on Sunday, winning her second title of the season and seventh overall.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion began the match on Stadium Court in typically dominant fashion, taking an early lead, but seventh seed Kasatkina responded with one of her own before falling behind again in blustery conditions.

Rybakina regained her composure to lead 5-1 as Kasatkina struggled for consistency, and the 24-year-old Brisbane champion closed out the first set in 25 minutes when her opponent sent a forehand wide.

The pair had split their four previous meetings, all on hardcourts, and Adelaide runner-up Kasatkina fought hard to recover two breaks in the next set with relentless baseline hitting and stunning winners.

At 4-4, Rybakina turned up the heat to break the 26-year-old Kasatkina with a crosscourt scorcher, and the Moscow-born Kazakh returned after a brief rain delay to win on serve.

Both players will now travel to Doha for the Qatar Open, with Kasatkina facing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opener on Monday and Rybakina receiving a bye into the second round.

"A tough week, especially the last matches, and tomorrow is already a match in Doha (for Kasatkina)," Rybakina said.

"Hopefully we both recover and do well there and maybe play final there."

"I want to thank all the fans who came to support us. It's been an amazing atmosphere and especially to see the flags from Kazakhstan it really means a lot."

Kasatkina, who survived a nearly three-hour semi-final against Beatriz Haddad Maia on Saturday, was disappointed by the loss but remained optimistic about her early-season form.

"Did I have enough in the tank for the final? I squeezed everything that I had left and it wasn't enough against a player like Elena ... you have to be at your best to have a chance to beat her," Kasatkina said.

"Unfortunate that the tournament ended this way but there's a lot of positives in the week. There's nothing to be sad about but of course it's always disappointing to lose in a final."

SportsLigue