Alexandrova missed the chance to knock Sabalenka out of the US Open. Five Russians remain in the group
Pavel Panyshev August 31, 2024, 09:35 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Ekaterina won the first set, after which Arina improved noticeably.
In the third round of the US Open, Ekaterina Alexandrova had to pass a real test. A meeting with the second racket of the world, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, is always an event. When Arina is in good form, it is incredibly difficult to deal with her. It is necessary to play reliably and cleanly, which is sometimes very difficult for Katya’s super-attacking style, as mistakes start to fall one after another.
“Alexandrova is an excellent tennis player, she and I had many close matches, good battles. She is an aggressive player, she serves well and her serve suits her game. The match with her will be a challenge, but I always like to play with her, I am looking forward to this good battle,” Sabalenka said before the match.
Before the information match, Sabalenka led in personal meetings at the WTA level with a score of 3-2 (2-1 on hard courts). She won in the second round of Shenzhen 2019, the quarter-finals of St. Petersburg 2019 and the fourth round of Wimbledon 2023. Alexandrova was stronger in the quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup 2021 and in the final of ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2022, on grass.
The start of the women’s match was delayed, as Novak Djokovic and Alexey Popyrin had previously engaged in a real fight on Arthur Ashe Centre Court. As a result, the Serbian sensationally left the tournament.
As for the reported match-up, Alexandrova played the first match with a lot of confidence. The Russian served well and kept the ball in play, while Sabalenka made a lot of errors in her rallies. As for back-and-forth shots, 10:10, Sabalenka has twice as many unforced errors: 14:7.
A small copy of Arina:
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It seemed that Ekaterina would be able to achieve her goal, but in the second set the situation changed. Now the Belarusian Sabalenka recovered and, first of all, adjusted her serve. Arina was a great hitter and Ekaterina started to make more mistakes in the jokes. Exactly what we talked about earlier. Alexandrova was ahead in points by 7:6, but she also had more unforced errors by 9:3.
Arina Sabalenko
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
The dominance of the favourite, who felt brave, lasted until the end of the match. Powerful serves, excellent attacks from both the forehand and the left – all this was the key to the final success. Katya simply could not cope with such pressure from her opponent. In the next round, Sabalenka will face Elise Mertens and there are no more Russians left in the lower half of the women’s singles draw. But in the top half there are five: Diana Schneider, Anna Kalinskaya, Lyudmila Samsonova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anastasia Potapova.
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The tournament will take place in New York from August 26 to September 8. You can follow all the details in the “Championship.” Check out our text broadcasts!
