By Richard Pagliaro Saturday, February 7, 2026
Photo credit: Mubadala Abu Dhabi Facebook
Sarah Bellec Her remarkable run concluded with her first WTA title.
Belek, ranked 101st in the qualifiers, defeated the second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova In today’s final, she won her first tour-level championship at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open with a score of 7-6(5), 6-1.
The 5-foot-3 left-hander hit a topspin forehand to the line with precision and ambition to earn her third win in the tournament’s top 25 and capture the 500 title. Belek defeated former French Open champion and world No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko in the second round and beat No. 16 Clara Toussaint 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in a gripping two hours and 49 minutes of semi-finals last night before showing strength and endurance to hold off No. 11 Alexandrova in today’s final.
The determined title bid catapulted the 20-year-old Czech 75 player to a career high in the rankings. Real-time ranking 38th.
Belek showed staying power, hitting a huge topspin forehand from the baseline that helped her reverse a third set point and win the first-set tiebreaker.
A tough first set left Alexandrova exhausted, but Belek was excited. She broke serve first in the second set and won 12 of the last 14 points to claim her first tournament title.
