05 Jun 2024 19:19 – Uncategorized
by Diego Barbiani
M. Andreeva b. [2] A. Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4
In a women’s tournament which, beyond the match between Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka in the second round, had very few interesting results, the second day of the quarter-finals offered only surprises. At the beginning of the day it was Elena Rybakina’s turn, defeated in three sets against Jasmine Paolini, and subsequently Aryna Sabalenka also came out, very sore from the first points due to a problem probably in the abdominal area and which conditioned her until the 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 final.
The beautiful story of the very young Mirra, who only a year ago began her adventure on the major circuit and immediately showed excellent natural skills for clay, will therefore continue tomorrow when she returns to the field to even try to reach the last step of this Slam for her in any case already now special. Today she had to manage a lot of nerves and tension, with the rather alienating situation of finding herself facing an opponent clearly conditioned by important problems. It took much longer than expected, a lot of effort and energy, especially mental, because at a certain point, halfway through the third set, she had even slipped back by a break.
The serve almost never helped her, logic and possible tactical schemes had failed right from the beginning of the match when it was clear that something was wrong with Sabalenka. Aryna entered the field as a great favourite, having won the two previous matches both played on clay and quite clearly, but despite reaching 3-1 she had a terrible look. Above all, she had started by committing four double faults and being visited by the physiotherapist for the first time at 4-3 for her opponent. Mirra served for the set but played with a lot of fear and was caught and overcome by an opponent who had the best 20 minutes of her day, managing to overcome several second games in the tie-break and having a set canceled point with a super backhand along the opponent’s winning line.
From the second set onwards, however, the match became something absurd. For long stretches Sabalenka was immobile with pain, she was no longer able to reach the ball, she sometimes tried to extend with her backhand but didn’t put any force and she spent the last half hour playing only slices with the minimum step to take. On the forehand, without coordination, he kept snatching shots and making mistakes. She had a lot of willpower to continue, looking for something that would give her a way to get to the finish line, but twice at 4-5 she lost her serve badly. All with an opponent who didn’t have any particular coolness, suffering six breaks in total and getting almost no help from the backhand which was sometimes too clean for Aryna. The problem, for Sabalenka, was that she had no way to hit the ball in a coordinated manner and was ineffective or fouled. Thus, at 5-4 Andreeva in the second set, the world number 2 had two free points for the 30-0 but from there she always broke with her forehand, slipping behind a first match point. She saved him, but her next attempted drop shot landed on her tape. On the second match point, she desperately threw herself at the net but Mirra, seeing her, managed to place the lob on the court.
Great joy for her, who will officially enter the top-30 after this Slam and it doesn’t end there, because tomorrow between her and Paolini a truly unexpected finalist will emerge even just at 10 this morning.
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