Mathieu Warnier, Media365, published on Thursday 01 May 2025 at 11:30 p.m.
In two rounds and a little more than an hour and a half, Aryna Sabalenka came to the end of Elina Svitolina and will play the final of the Madrid WTA tournament against Coco Gauff.
Aryna Sabalenka did not fall for it. While Iga SwiTek did not exist against Coco Gauff during the first semi-final of the Madrid WTA tournament, the seeded number 1 had the last word against Elina Svitolina, who remained on eleven victories of all competitions. From the first exchanges, both the Belarusian and the Ukrainian showed themselves very solid. This resulted in two of the first three games won white by the one that hired. However, the world number 1 very quickly found the means to take up the ascendant in the exchange. This quickly translated as a break obtained in an authoritarian way after a fourth game won without conceding the slightest point. An advantage of the score that could have been decisive but it was without counting on the fighting spirit of Elina Svitolina. The native of Odessa first accused the blow before recovering at the end of an often important seventh game. At the first opportunity to erase your delay service game, the world 17th has seized its luck. Except that Aryna Sabalenka immediately raised her gaming level to put her opponent in difficulty with a notch. The consequence was a new break for the number 1 series of the tournament after a hanging game. When concluding, the native of Minsk almost won.
Sabalenka sometimes heckled by Svitolina
Indeed, she had to cope with three Débreak balls, which she all ruled out. The first set ball was then good. On its momentum, Aryna Sabalenka began the second round beating drum, converting his first break ball to quickly lead two games to nothing. An advance that the Belarusian saw being challenged in a sixth game which saw Elina Svitolina release her blows to seek an opportunity to pick up. However, the world 17th failed to exploit it fully. What she knew how to do when the opportunity presented again, that is to say when her opponent was used for the gain of the match. Without letting the world number 1 have the opportunity to seal the fate of the meeting, the Ukrainian offered two bales of Débreak, converting the second to extend the suspense in this semi-final. It didn’t take less to relaunch Aryna Sabalenka. Indeed, from the next game, the latter gave a necklace to resume the service of Elina Svitolina and obtain a second opportunity to conclude on her own commitment. This time, the boss of the female professional circuit did not give the slightest chance of returning to her opponent. The second match ball was the right one for the Belarusian (6-3, 7-5 in 1h33 ‘), which qualified for its fifth final of the year. She has an appointment this Saturday with Coco Gauff to try to win a second title in 2025, the 20th of her career.
