(Madrid) Aryna Sabalenka wants her revenge: the world No. 2 will challenge No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid on Saturday, two weeks after her defeat on clay in Stuttgart (Germany).
Sabalenka, crowned for the first time in a Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, pocketed her ticket for the Madrid final on Thursday afternoon, at the expense of Greece’s Maria Sakkari (9e), dominated 6-4, 6-1.
Swiatek imitated her shortly before half past midnight, leaving no chance for Russian Veronika Kudermetova (13e), muzzled 6-1, 6-1 in just 80 minutes.
PHOTO JUAN MEDINA, REUTERS
Iga Swiatek
“I really want to have this revenge”, hopes Sabalenka. “It would be really great to be able to beat a player like Iga on clay. »
Swiatek had won 6-3, 6-4 over the German ocher in April.
“In Stuttgart, I rushed, angry, on the short balls, I tried too much for the winning shot. This time, I would play with more patience and I would wait for the right ball to finish the point”, imagines Sabalenka.
“It’s always a tough fight against Iga, I’m ready for it,” she promises.
” Everything changed ”
Just over three weeks before Roland-Garros (May 28-June 11), Sabalenka is in any case confirming her very good form in 2023: the Belarusian, who celebrates her 25th birthday on Friday, has already reached her fifth final of the season ( for two titles) in seven tournaments played.
Already “before the Australian Open, I had become a little calmer on the court, maybe it’s age… But afterwards, everything changed. I feel like a different person, I see tennis differently, I have so much confidence in myself right now. The Australian Open really changed me,” she says.
For now, Swiatek, crowned twice at Roland-Garros (2020 and 2022), is undefeated on clay in 2023, with nine victories in as many matches. This will be his fourth final of the year (titles in Doha and Stuttgart) in six tournaments played.
Also in love with the surface and recent finalist in Barcelona, the world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas was surprised in the quarter-finals by the German Jan-Lennard Struff, 65e global and lucky loser7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-3 after two and a half hours of hard struggle.
Struff-Karatsev, second edition
Ironically, for a place in the final, Struff will face Aslan Karatsev… for the second time in the Madrid tournament: it was precisely the Russian who had beaten him in qualifying and initially prevented him from entering the main draw there. ten days. The German was finally drafted after a late forfeit.
“He beat me quite easily in qualifying I must say (6-4, 6-2), admits Struff. I hope I will be able to do better. »
Karatsev put an end to him 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 to the beautiful course of Zhizhen Zhang (99e), who became the first Chinese player in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000, to find a place in the last four.
Both for Struff (33 years old) and for Karatsev (29 years old), surprise semi-finalist of the Australian Open 2021 but fell out of the top 100 (121e), this will be their very first Masters 1000 semi-final.
Being invited to the last four guarantees the first to climb to the gates of the top 30 on Monday, very close to his best ranking (29e in August 2020), and on the second, to return to the edge of the top 50.
Both men’s semifinals are scheduled for Friday (starting at 10 a.m. EST). The first will oppose the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, world number 2 and holder of the trophy, to the Croatian Borna Coric (20e).
