Clara Tauson on beating Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai “I tried to take my chance.. I’ve had a crazy 24 hours after yesterday. I slept maybe 5 hours & went to sleep at 3:30 am. I didn’t know what shape I’d come out here in. Pretty good one” 😂 pic.twitter.com/83pONQR8l5

Sabalenka is far from the only top-ranked player to struggle during the Middle East swing of the WTA schedule. Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Qinwen Zheng have all suffered early exits in Doha and Dubai.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka blamed a lack of focus and motivation for her last-16 defeat at the Dubai Championships, where she fell 6-3 6-2 to world number 38 Clara Tauson.

Aryna Sabalenka has blamed a lack of hunger and focus on court for her last-16 exit in Dubai at the hands of world number 38 Clara Tauson on Wednesday. The world number one has won just one of the three matches she contested during this Middle East swing,

Dubai: Aryna Sabalenka blamed a lack of hunger for her last-16 exit in Dubai at the hands of world number 38 Clara Tauson on Wednesday, insisting she was kind of all over the place”. The world No 1 has won just one of the three matches she contested during this Middle East swing,