Not sure what's going on in tennis this year, but things are not going as one might expect.
For the second consecutive week, the women's 1,000 tournament including almost all the big dogs -- this one in Dubai -- had a very unexpected final. Teenager Mirra Andreeva, one of the tour's fastest rising stars, beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (1), 6-1 to claim her first career 1,000-level title. She beat second-ranked Iga Swiatek and No. 7 Elena Rybakina to get to the final.
The victory, which makes the 17-year-old the youngest player to win a 1,000-level tournament (the format started in 2009), will move Andreeva into the top 10 for the first time in her career at No. 9.
Tauson, BTW, is off to a great start this year. She won the Australian Open tuneup event in Auckland, beating Aussie winner Madison Keys along the way, and has a 15-4 match record this year. Aftr startingt the year at No. 49, she's now knocking on the door of the top 20 (career-high 23 in the new rankings).
In Dubai, Tauson took out No. 1 Sabalenka, who has lost three of her past four matches.