Sabalenka is going for her first Stuttgart victory after finishing second twice in a row to Iga Swiatek and Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
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Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a set and a break down to defeat wild card Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and advance to the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for the third consecutive year. She will then go up against Anastasia Potapova, who defeated Caroline Garcia, the No. 4 seed, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. The 2-hour, 30-minute match ended with Sabalenka defeating Badosa 7-6(5), 6-4, just as she had done in the tournament’s quarterfinals the year before, tying the Spanish player on victories with two. The winner of the Australian Open has reached her fourth semifinal in six matches this season, improving her overall 2023 record to 22-3.
Sabalenka is going for her first Stuttgart victory after finishing second twice in a row to Iga Swiatek and Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The match was relatively simple for a set and a half. The pattern of mostly routine service holds was broken by only two service breaks, both of which went to Badosa due to a combination of timely backhand passes and Sabalenka mistakes. The Spaniard took a 6-4, 4-2 advantage by serving out the first set while fending off three break points.
In the second set, the level of play had improved, and in the fifth game, Badosa hit the game-winning one-handed backhand lob at full stretch. The World No. 2 advanced to 3-0 in the third set, but it was a fierce Sabalenka forehand that made it possible for the crucial break back at 4-4. This was part of a seven-game streak.
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In contrast to the first set, there were a total of five serve breaks in the decider as both players battled it out over six deuce games. Badosa put up a valiant fight to hold Sabalenka back, but he was also plagued by an increasing number of double faults. The World No. 31 made nine errors, five of which occurred in her final two service games. Sabalenka didn’t require any additional prodding to start attacking, and she won her second match point by hitting a backhand into the open court, her 40th successful shot of the day.
“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. Then who knows what’s gonna happen in the third set? Definitely that game was the key game.”
No.24-ranked Potapova had never advanced past the quarterfinals at the WTA 500 level or higher or defeated two opponents ranked in the top 10 before. With her 2 hour and 12 minute victory over Garcia, she altered both of those statistics, bringing her overall record against the Frenchwoman up to 2-1.
In addition, it was Potapova’s third career Top 5 victory after victories over Angelique Kerber at Roland Garros 2019 and Anett Kontaveit at Prague 2022. Garcia had 34 winners to Potapova’s 19, but she also made 42 unforced errors to her seeded rival’s 69.
