(Tennis news) To advance to the fourth round, where Daria Kasatkina awaited her, Sabalenka easily defeated Maryna Zanevska, Jodie Burrage, and Clara Burel in straight sets. The Belarusian didn’t spend any time winning the opening set, dropping just one game to do so.
Three serve breaks in a row began the second set, which again had a similar outcome, with Sabalenka defeating Kasatkina by a narrow margin to win 6-1, 6-3. She has already advanced to the quarterfinals of all four Majors this year thanks to the victory. In addition, she inherited the top spot after Iga Swiatek left.
On her way to the fourth round, Zheng defeated Lucia Bronzetti, Kaia Kanepi, and Nadia Podoroska. Ons Jabeur, the New York runner-up from the previous year, was her opponent for a place in the last eight.
Zheng got off to a good start in the first set, taking an early 4-1 lead. Jabeur made an attempt to regain control of the match by stealing a break of service, but the Chinese teenager won the following two games to win the set.
After exchanging service breaks to open the second set, Zheng took control by winning four straight games to take a 5-2 lead. She lost a match point on Jabeur’s serve after being broken while attempting to win the match.
Zheng moved up to serve for the match once more, and she was successful in winning it 6-2, 6-4 on her second attempt. Now, she has advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Head-to-Head
Their head-to-head record is now 0-0 as this will be their first encounter.
Predictions
Although they both won in straight sets in the previous round, they encountered some difficulties. Both players made three serve errors, with Zheng only able to place 45% of his first serves in play.
Sabalenka has never dropped more than five games in any of her matches, and she has won every one of them in straight sets. She would love nothing more than to start her rule by taking first place as the No. 1 in waiting. The Belarusian is currently attempting to make it to her fifth consecutive Major semifinal.
Although Sabalenka is the only player who has demonstrated the ability to handle other powerful ballstrikers, both players enjoy hitting big shots. Zheng typically struggles against them, frequently feeling hurried and firing at the wrong moment.
Sabalenka frequently finds a way to win matches despite her serve failing, but Zheng’s serve is much more unpredictable than Sabalenka. This match favours the Belarusian significantly based on how they have performed thus far.
Aryna Sabalenka to win 3 sets.
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