Aryna Sabalenka vs Maria Sakkari will take place in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Madrid Open on May 4.
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Aryna Sabalenka came from behind to win in her last eight match. In her biggest quarterfinal, Mayar Sherif played brilliant tennis in the first set but dropped a total of three points. The second seed assumed complete control in the ensuing two sets, dominating with just three games lost, winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 for her first victory in a three-set match this season. She hasn’t yet encountered a seed, and two of her four rounds were against wildcards outside the top 100, Camila Osorio and 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. She has been to the Madrid Open five times. She won her lone clay-court title two years ago after making it past its first round just once before.
In her quarterfinal matchup with world No. 35 Irina-Camelia Begu, Maria Sakkari also had to recover from falling behind a set. The world No. 9 defeated the 32-year-old Romanian in three sets, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, in two hours and 52 minutes as the clock ticked past eleven in the evening after dropping the hour-long first set. She had a less than stellar track record in Madrid going into this week. Her best performance came in 2021 when she finished in the last 16; four of her previous six campaigns had ended in the qualifying round or first round. Additionally, she arrived in the Spanish capital after losing in the first round of three of her previous four competitions, including Stuttgart.
| Aryna Sabalenka vs Maria Sakkari | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | May 5, 2023 |
| Surface | Clay |
| Tournament | Madrid Open |
| Stage | Semi-final |
| Time (India) | 4:30 pm |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Mayar Sherif | 6-2, 2-6, 1-6 (W) |
| Mirra Andreeva | 6-3, 6-1 (W) |
| Camila Osorio | 6-4, 7-5 (W) |
| Sorana Cirstea | 6-4, 6-3 (W) |
| Iga Swiatek | 6-3, 6-4 (L) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Irina-Camellia Begu | 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 (W) |
| Paula Badosa | 6-4, 6-4 (W) |
| Rebeka Masarova | 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 (W) |
| Arantxa Rus | 6-4, 6-4 (W) |
| Karolina Pliskova | 6-2, 6-2 (L) |
5-3 is Aryna Sabalenka’s lead. Recently, the two have faced off twice; Maria Sakkari triumphed in their round-robin match at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, and the Belarusian responded in the semifinal of Indian Wells, winning 6-2, 6-3. For the first time, they will compete outside of hard courts, with the latter clearly the favourite.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Maria Sakkari will take place in the semi-finals of the 2023 Madrid Open on May 4.
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