WTA Finals: Aryna Sabalenka keeps hopes in front of ecstatic fans
Aryna Sabalenka (WTA No. 2) celebrated a hard -fought victory over Iga Swiatek on Sunday night and thus kept her chances of reaching the semi-finals at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Nov 14, 2021, 08:27 am
Sabalenka won with 2: 6, 6: 2 and 7: 5 and thus still has a chance to qualify for the Habfinale of the WTA Finals in the last group game against Maria Sakkari. Swiatek was eliminated after two defeats. Paula Badosa, on the other hand, has already been confirmed as the group winner - the Spaniard had previously won against Sakkari .
Sabalenka and Swiatek fought a hard-fought match from the second round, in which Sabalenka brought the spectators in Mexico behind him during the match. "I've never seen such support, I had goosebumps," she said afterwards.
In the third round, Sabalenka managed the early break, but it did not last; at 4: 5 she had to survive a critical 30:30, but did so with two strong serves. Then she managed the decisive break.
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Sabalenka grabbed the fans this time
To support the audience , Sabalenka then recalled her situation at the US Open: There she lost in the semi-finals to Leylah Fernandez, who had the audience behind - "I wasn't disappointed, but sad about the atmosphere. It wasn't against me , it just supported them. " Then she thought: Maybe sometimes you just have to ask for support? "That's nothing bad."
Against her final group opponent Sakkari, Sabalenka leads in a direct comparison with 4: 1.