Madrid (Spain) – Semifinalist of the WTA 1000 in Madrid, Aryna Sabalenka felt a clear improvement in her tennis level. After playing three long games in the tournament, against Poland’s Magda Linette and Americans Robin Montgomery and Danielle Collins, the world number 2 needed just 1h18 to beat 17 year old Russian Mirra Andreeva this Wednesday.
“I’m very happy with the level I played today to get this victory,” said Sabalenka, who scored splits of 6/1 and 6/4 and faced no break-points. “She is an incredible player, super young and is already at a high level. Now I have to try to continue on this path and have my best tennis in the next match.”
Sabalenka’s opponent in this Thursday’s semifinal will be Kazakh Elena Rybakina, fourth in the rankings. The Belarusian leads the head-to-head record 5-3, but Rybakina won the most recent duel, in the final in Brisbane in January. The reunion takes place at 4:30 pm (Brasília time).
“Rybakina is another difficult opponent. We have already fought big battles and it will be a challenge for me, but I will try everything to win. We are both aggressive players, we serve well and we play focused on ourselves. I have to be very aggressive in key moments.”
