Sabalenka 'fully recovered' from Australian Open final loss

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. I think 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 which started Sunday for the first time since 2022. The tournament in Doha is the first WTA 1000 event of the season.

After Qatar 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’' '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 less than 10 months after the birth of her daughter Bella.

"That's impressive, honestly. She just came back, I think Australian Open she had a great run (to the fourth round0, 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 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 Polish world number two credits her patience and adaptability for her previous success in Doha.

- Work Hard -

"I think the conditions here are pretty tricky, and I was patient enough to just keep focusing on my game and playing my tennis," said the 23-year-old.

Swiatek is searching for her first title in eight months, with her last triumph coming in last year's French Open.

"I know how tennis works. It doesn't always depend on you if you win titles or not. You just have to put 100 percent effort and commitment and you'll get your chances if you play well and if you work hard," she said.

Should she defend her crown in Doha, Swiatek would become just the second woman this century to win the same title four years in a row, and first since Caroline Wozniacki won New Haven from 2008 to 2011.

The second-seeded Swiatek will open her Doha account against Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse or former top-five player Maria Sakkari in round two.