Sabalenka Rallies To Stay Alive In Stuttgart; Swiatek v Jabeur SF

Tournament favorites Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek had to rally from set deficits to advance to the Stuttgart semifinals.

Sabalenka, a finalist the last two years, found herself down a set and a break to Paula Badosa before turning it around 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In the match, Sabalenka added four aces, donated six doubles, was 5 of 15 on break chances, breaking Badosa three times in the third. There were three breaks to close the match!

“I was just talking to myself and saying, OK, just try one more time, just try to put the ball back, and then run and move and try to win this game and probably you can win this set,” Sabalenka said of getting back on serve in the second. “Then who knows what’s gonna happen in the third set? Definitely that game was the key game.”

The top seeded Swiatek didn’t face such danger. She dropped the first then rolled past former champion Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The 31-year-old Pliskova was plagued by 11 doubles (7 in last two sets) and won just 6/23 (26%) on second serves.

“Overall I felt like at the beginning I couldn’t really focus,” Swiatek said to the WTA. “When she’s serving, these are like really milliseconds that matter. So I feel like I was playing already good tennis at the end of the first set, but it was already too late kind of to even the score.”

Swiatek moves into her 20th career semifinal where she’ll now face Ons Jabeur who steamrolled Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 6-0. Swiatek leas 3-2 with their last meeting coming in the US Open final.

“For sure when you have Ons, you’re not gonna expect an easy match,” Swiatek said. “It’s gonna be a little bit different than most of the matches you play. You have to be ready for different game style. It’s pretty exciting, but when you’re out there on court it’s tough.”

Anastasia Potapova join the final four with a shock win over 4th-seeded Caroline Garcia in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Sabalenka and Potapova have never played.

“Aryna is my good friend, and I think it’s going to be fun. I’ve been waiting for this match, actually,” Potapova said.

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