Madrid, land of Pim, Pam, Pum, the territory where the ball flies beautifully, crowned Aryna Sabalenka for the second time, doubling the Belarusian’s threat to number one Iga Swiatek. The defeat of the Pole (6-3, 3-6 and 6-3, after 2h 25m) offers a nice scenario for the coming weeks, opens up the possibility of a replacement on the throne and, above all, strengthens the conviction of the champion , to whom a portion faith was absent. “Before Australia I learned to be calmer on track and things got a little bit different from there. My relationship with tennis too. Now I have more confidence in myself”, confirms the Minsk winner after a great epilogue in which her ambition triumphed. Right, here she is.
The 25-year-old Sabalenka prevailed in a duel of alternatives in which she starred in the crucial corner, powerful in the third set and accurate when it came to ending the win for her second trophy in the Caja Mágica after gaining two years ago. when she beat Australian Ashleigh Barty. Once again, Madrid rewards speed; Once again she celebrates the best holster on the circuit after last year’s virtuoso tennis was rewarded by Ons Jabeur. Not used to flourishes, the winner pushes and pushes until she drives her opponent out of the ring. His game has a combative vibe, one-two, one-two, with clean whiplash until the ko is reached.
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Sabalenka stormed onto the stage and impressed, but the excess momentum punishes this tennis player until she gradually discovers the break. It doesn’t relax, but it doesn’t punish either. And above all read better. Reconciled with herself, she has shown herself to be a fierce competitor, sometimes overwhelming; He’s scoring as always but holding back when he has to and his confidence has skyrocketed. To the spectacularity he has added the plus of control and once that version is reached it becomes very difficult for the rest to counter him. Power, peace and security, the formula for success.
“I won because the cake was so good…” he said before raising the trophy half-jokingly, half-seriously. Darts for organization. The day before, Carlos Alcaraz had posed in front of a giant cake, while the day before she had received a standard-sized one. Well, Sabalenka believes so. It’s no less than anyone else. Smiling and full of character at the same time, she is the main actress this year. She made her first major in Melbourne and now she’s throwing an ordeal at Swiatek, happily installed at the top until the Belarusian has made the final step forward and is giving it her all. Doubts vanished, he finally found peace.
There is no player who has more wins (29) than her this season and who has shown the biggest appetite, especially lately. Added to this is a great development, especially technically. She also has charisma, so needed by the circle of representatives to get involved after the departure of great icon Serena Williams, and she runs for leadership while indecision reigns supreme among the others.
Stuck on her way to the final – she lost just one set to Mayar Sherif in the quarters – Sabalenka threw her punch in that final confrontation with Swiatek, who lacked a daring point at the most delicate moments, and succumbed to his opponent’s incessant cannon fire. The Adelaide and Australian Open champions, the one from Minsk, added her 13th WTA title, her third on clay, and has established herself as the Pole’s formidable rival for the world throne.
At the moment it’s Swiatek’s turn, but in the coming weeks the Pole will have to defend the huge number of points she won a year ago in Rome and Roland Garros, where she triumphed. Therefore, Sabalenka, an ambitious player who has managed to polish herself and correct the serve mistake – a luxury opportunity – offers herself to become an increasingly dominant tennis player. Also a finalist that season at Indian Wells and Stuttgart, he was superior in a match that followed a logical progression until the third set, where disorder began to reign. From there breaks and chaos. The Belarusian’s arm weighed more.
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