The semi-finals of the WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open on Friday are scheduled but will not feature British No. 2 Sonay Kartal, who met her match in 20-year-old Sara Bejlek and moves on to meet third-seeded Clara Tauson.
I tried to remind myself, ‘You have to play until the last point.’ I tried to keep my focus on that – I think that really helped me. Don’t think about the outcome, but more about the process. Ekaterina Alexandrova
No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova ended the drama that was Alexandra Eala’s run to the quarterfinals on Thursday, while her next opponent, Hailey Baptiste, a wildcard in the draw, broke new ground by upsetting fifth seed Liudmila Samsonova to reach the last 4 in the UAE.
Alexandrova had to deal not only with the rampant Eala, but also with her legion of fervent Filipino fans, and the Russian held her nerve to calm both with a 6-3 6-3 victory in an hour and 30 minutes to reach her first semi-final of 2026.
“I saw the last match,” Alexandrova said in her on-court interview, referring to Eala’s remarkable comeback from 0-4 in the third set and saving a match point on Wednesday against qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. ‘She fought to the end.
“I knew it was going to be difficult, but I think the atmosphere today was great. The crowd, I know they were cheering for her, but I think the atmosphere was great. So I enjoyed my time on the court and I’m happy that I could finish in straight sets because it was very difficult in the end.”
Despite the score, the match was tense throughout, largely due to Alexandrova playing her best tennis to take an early lead, and Eala producing her best performance when her back was against the wall.
The No. 2 seed’s superior firepower produced 33 winners to Eala’s 15, and allowed her to break first in both sets, although Eala increased her intensity both times when she was behind, looking for a possible turning point.
Alexandrova did well not to fall into that trap and kept her nose up front; her greater experience proved crucial to the outcome.
Despite landing 70% of her first deliveries, Eala only won 45% of those points, which was less than the 53% she won after her second serve.
However, Alexandrova won 70% of her first grind points, which deflected much of Eala’s fighting spirit, and saw the 31-year-old maintain her lead.
In the final game of the first set, Alexandrova saved four break points before converting her first set point with a simple one-two.
At 3-3 in the second, after cutting her lead, Alexandrova once again found a rebound that was too high for Eala to handle.
“I tried to remind myself, ‘You have to play until the last point,’” Alexandrova said. “I tried to keep my focus on that. I think that really helped me. Not thinking about the outcome, but more about the process.”
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Both semi-finals pit a seeded player against an opponent breaking new ground on tour this week, with both Baptiste and Bejlek making their semi-final debuts at WTA level on Friday.
Baptiste defeated fifth seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 4-6 6-4 after a 2 hour 17 minute battle in her quarter-final, firing 4 aces compared to the Russian’s zero.
It was the second Top 20 victory of the tournament for the 24-year-old American, after also upsetting No. 4 seed Emma Navarro in the second round, and the fifth of her career overall.
20-year-old Sara Bejlek won the all-qualifier quarter-final against Sonay Kartal in 63 minutes to reach her first tour-vale semi-final in the UAE
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Czech Bejlek needed just 63 minutes to complete her 6-0 6-2 victory against Britain’s Kartal in the quarter-final of all qualifiers.
The left-hander had not conceded a single set against Ashlyn Krueger and Jelena Ostapenko and continued her strong performance in recent days, surpassing the Brit, who never found her way into the match.
Bejlek won ten consecutive games by combining fantastic down-the-line redirects with deft drop shots, before Kartal managed to get herself on the board midway through the second set, having lost the first in just 22 minutes.
Kartal eventually held serve in her sixth service game and then broke the 20-year-old Czech to reduce the deficit to 4-2, but the fightback was short-lived as she was immediately beaten back.
At number 101, Bejlek is 40 places below world number 61 Kartal and she held her nerve and extended the rallies before converting her first match point to complete her dominant win at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.
Kartal has lost three of her four quarter-finals on the WTA Tour, with her only win coming en route to lifting the Jasmin Open trophy in 2024, her only tour-level title.
Number 3 seed Clara Tauson reached the Abu Dhabi semi-finals with a straight sets victory over McCartney Kessler on Day 5 at Zayed Sports City
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Bejlek, a junior Grand Slam doubles champion, will face Danish third seed Clara Tauson in the semifinals on Friday for a place in Saturday’s final.
Tauson defeated McCartney Kessler of the USA 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 33 minutes.
Although The World No 16 was favored against the American, caution was advised as Kessler had knocked out Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Leylah Fernandez in the first two rounds.
This was the second meeting between the two, following Kessler’s victory at the Angers tournament at the end of 2023.
The Dane, who defeated Simona Waltert in her round of 16 debut, was looking to confirm her form, and in a match where she was often in the lead, Tauson cruised in straight sets.
At just 23 years old, Tauson has already established himself as one of the most explosive and consistent young forces on the WTA Tour.
Once the No. 1 junior in the world, the Dane has become a mainstay of the Top 20 with a game built on ferocious base strength, mental toughness and an uncanny ability to seize big moments.
Britain’s Sonay Kartal was outclassed by Sara Bejlek in the last 8 of the Abu Dhabi Open on Thursday
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