After three hard-fought three-set wins at the Mutua Madrid Open, Aryna Sabalenka finally enjoyed a more straightforward encounter on Wednesday, against emerging talent Mirra Andreeva (6-1, 6-4).
The two-time champion in the Caja Magica required one hour and 19 minutes of tennis, time during which she fired 35 winners and did not concede a single break point, to see off the most promising talent in the women’s game. The youngster, who turned 17 this week, has now broken into the world’s Top 50 under the tutelage of Conchita Martínez.
“I’m super happy with the level I played today and to get this win. She is an incredible player, super young and she is playing really great tennis. I just have to keep going the way I’m going and do my best in the next match”, she said of the clash with her young opponent.
Having dispatched Andreeva, Sabalenka is now in her third semifinals in Madrid (2021, 2023 and 2024). On Friday, when she squares off against Kazakh player Rybakina (4-6, 7-6[4], 7-5 over her compatriot Yulia Putintseva) she will be bidding for what would also be her third final.
“It’s never easy to qualify for semifinals and Rybakina is a great player. We’ve had many great battles and it’s going to be a challenge to me, but I accept that and I’ll have to do my best to get this win”, she said of her encounter in the penultimate round with the former Wimbledon champion (2022).
“We are both aggressive players, we both are serving well, and it’s about — I mean, when I was winning, I was focusing on myself and I was staying really aggressive on those key moments”, concluded.
The world No. 2 and defending champion has now extended her streak of consecutive wins in the Spanish WTA 1000 to 10, as well as claiming her 16th victory from her last 17 ties on the clay of Madrid.
