Belarusa Aryna Sabalenka, number one in the world, went to the round of 16 of the WTA tournament in Madrid, defeating her former double companion, the Belgian Elise Mertens (n.26) by 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Sabalenka, 26, twice winner in Madrid (2021 and 2023), came from being imposed on Mertens in the quarterfinals of Stuttgart.
Minsk’s tennis player, who achieved the WTA 1000 of Miami in March, will face the winner of the match between the Switzerland Rebeka Masarova (n.153) and the American Peyton Stearns in the next phase (N.44).
Sabalenka was surprised in the first set, where after placing himself 2-0 above he saw how his rival went back and took the partial 3-6.
With the match against, the triple winner of Grand Slass reacted with authority, leaving his rival to only three games in what was left.
“It is one of those days that I have not felt good, I was nervous in the first set, which was made complicated, but I knew I was going to have opportunities,” Sabalenka said at the end of the game.
“The key to victory is not thinking about the past (previous matches),” added the Belarusian, who ruled out predicting who will reach the final: “This is sport honestly, you can’t foresee, I don’t think much further, step by step.”
With 10 losses in 12 duels, Mertens (29 years old) is the rival to which the N.1 has defeated in the women’s circuit since the beginning of his career.
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