Abu Dhabi Open: Watson, Dart in doubles finals defeat

Heather Watson

Britain’s Heather Watson and doubles partner Linda Noskova suffered a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) defeat by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open on Sunday.

Watson and her Czech partner forced a tie-break in the second set but the American duo closed the match out.

Harriet Dart and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia were beaten in the final of the Transylvania Open.

They went down 6-3 6-4 to the United States’ Caty McNally and Asia Muhammad.

Earlier in the week in Cluj, Dart had reached her first semi-final on the WTA Tour in the singles tournament, losing to Karolina Pliskova.

It helped the 27-year-old Briton climb back into the top 100 of the world rankings.

In the final of the singles at the Abu Dhabi Open, world number five Elena Rybakina cruised to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Daria Kasatkina.

The top seed from Kazakhstan wrapped up the win in 68 minutes against her Russian opponent in Doha to secure her seventh career title.