Madrid (Spain) – One victory away from her third WTA 1000 title in Madrid, Aryna Sabalenka highlighted the unconditional support she received from the fans at Thursday’s semi-final against Elena Rybakina. After being dominated by the Kazakh in the opening set and being one game away from elimination, when her opponent served for the game in the second set, the world number 2 started a strong reaction, improved her serve performance and achieved a difficult comeback to guarantee a place in the final.
“Today, honestly, if it weren’t for the fans, I would probably have left this court losing by double 6/1 and I would have been very sad. Because I had support the whole time and I always heard someone shouting ‘We want to see you on Saturday’ this motivated me a lot. I was like I had to fight. I needed to do my best,” said Sabalenka after her 1/6, 7/5, 7/6 (7-5) victory over Rybakina.
Sabalenka recalled the moment when Rybakina came close to closing the match in straight sets, leading the second set 5/4 and serving. For the Belarusian, returning the break at that moment not only gave her a fundamental survival in the game, but also changed the match in a mental aspect. “That was probably the key moment. That’s why I’m saying, I don’t know how I managed to recover in that match. She probably missed her opportunities and I took advantage of mine.”
“I was suffering a lot with my serve in the first set. So, having those calmer games on my serve gave me a little more confidence that I would still have some chances. That kind of gave me extra energy to keep fighting and trying to break her serve and get back into the game”, said the two-time champion, who didn’t suffer any breaks in the last set.
Reunion with Iga in Saturday’s final in Madrid
At 25 years old, Sabalenka will compete in the 27th final of her career, with 14 titles. She will face the number 1 in the world next Saturday, at 1:30 pm (GMT) Iga Swiatek. Although the Pole leads the record 6-3, Sabalenka’s asset is victory in last year’s final in Madrid. The top two in the rankings have not faced each other since last year’s WTA Finals, a tournament in which Swiatek was undefeated champion.
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In five games at the tournament in Madrid this year, Sabalenka reached the third set in four matches and has already managed two comebacks: “It will be another battle for me. We are always fighting as hard as we can. They are always incredible matches. I’m super excited for this final. I will do everything I can to get another victory.”
