The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenkathe defending champion of the Madrid tournament, overcame his doubts from the previous rounds and qualified for the semifinals by exercising authority against one of the great promises of world tennis, the Russian Mirra Andreevawho received 6-1 and 6-4.
A two-time winner in Madrid, in 2021 and 2023, Sabalenka was a giant against a player who turned 17 on Monday and has only been on the circuit for a year.
A year ago today, in the round of 16 of the previous edition, Sabalenka beat Andreeva 6-3 and 6-1 in one hour and twelve minutes. This Wednesday, the number 2 in the world (then she was) defeated the number 43 (she was 194) 6-1 and 6-4 in an hour and 18. She will face Kazakh Elena Rybakina, fourth, in the semifinals. series leader.
The Spanish Conchita Martinezformer coach of the recently retired Garbine Muguruza, He has been working for a month with Andreeva, who, if she had won, would have broken the record for precocity in the semifinals of a WTA 1,000 category tournament. But he was far from successful.
Sabalenka has raised some doubts about her status by dropping a set in all her previous matches. In the second of them he had to spend two and a half hours to defeat the 183rd in the ranking, the American Robin Montgomery.
But Manolo Santana came out focused on the court, supported by an unapproachable service that allowed him to take the initiative and rely only on his own mistakes and successes.
She soon broke Andreeva’s serve (3-1) and she repeated the ‘break’ the next time, as the Russian saw how the ball passed her from one side to the other. Saving two set points was his greatest feat in that set.
In the second set, Andreeva held on until 2-2. Sabalenka then pressed her from the others and got the advantage she was looking for. From then on he was insatiable and eager to judge quickly. Haste led him to waste two match points, but in the next game he closed without hesitation.
The Russian left recognized by the Caja Mágica crowd and had reasons to leave happy after reaching the quarterfinals. He has an amazing repertoire of shots: he cuts well, his backhand is incredible, he places his forehand well, he’s fast. He has a lot of room to improve on his serve and his position on the court but it is a matter of time, which will also give him more physical strength.
Adreeva defeated world numbers 7 and 13, Czech Marketa Vondrousova and Italian Jasmine Paolini, in the previous two rounds.
Sabalenka and Rybakina They have played eight times, with 5-3 for the Belarusian, although the last match was for the Kazakh, this year in the final in Brisbane.
Source: La Verdad
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