Sabalenka eliminated by Tauson in Dubai

Aryna Sabalenka faced Clara Tauson in the last 16 of the WTA 1000 Dubai tournament.

Despite being the top seed, the Belarusian was soundly beaten 6-3, 6-2. In particular, she was broken five times in a row between the first and second sets.

A further disappointment after her defeat in Doha in her opening match against Ekaterina Aleksandrova.

Iga Swiatek, her main rival, is still in contention and, should the Pole win the title, she would be 300 points behind Sabalenka in the WTA rankings.

In a post-match interview, the Dane declared: "I tried to take my chances, I've had 24 crazy hours since yesterday.

I slept maybe 5 hours and went to bed at 3.30am. I didn't know what kind of shape I'd be in when I got back here. Pretty good in the end.

Tauson will face Linda Noskova in the quarter-finals.