From qualies to champion: Sara Bejlek’s incredible Abu Dhabi triumph

20-year-old Czech sensation Sara Bejlek etched her name into the stats books by capturing the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open title on Saturday afternoon. Ranked No. 101 at the start of the week, the left-handed qualifier produced a masterclass to dismantle the second seed and world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova with a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory.

The magnitude of Bejlek’s performance cannot be overstated. Making her tournament debut as a qualifier, Bejlek is the first qualifier in the tournament’s history to reach the championship match, a feat that felt improbable when she began her campaign in the preliminary rounds against Ekaterina Ovcharenko and Chloe Paquet.

The Czech youngster’s path to the trophy was a gauntlet of top-tier talent. She secured her first career Top 20 win by outlasting third seed Clara Tauson (No. 16) in a three-hour semi-final marathon. Her week also included a dominant straight-sets victory over world No. 24 and seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko, alongside clinical wins over Ashlyn Krueger and Sonay Kartal. Before this dream week, Bejlek had contested only one other WTA 500 main draw in her career, making this breakthrough even more staggering.

In Saturday’s final, Bejlek utilized her signature defensive tenacity to frustrate Alexandrova, who had reached the final by saving a match point against Hailey Baptiste. After weathering a tight opening set that Bejlek snatched in a tie-break, the momentum shifted entirely. The Russian, despite her experience in 13 career finals, struggled to find answers for Bejlek’s redirects and depth, eventually fading as the qualifier won the final set 6-1 in just over 100 minutes.

This victory serves as a massive career milestone. When the new rankings are released on Monday, Bejlek is projected to rocket 63 spots to a career-high of world No. 38, marking her debut in the global Top 40.