The second player in the world, Aryna Sabalenka, fell into the hands of the 18th roundeLiudmila Samsonova, in the third round of the National Bank Open.
The Russian won in three sets 7-6(2), 4-6 and 6-3 against Belarus after a marathon that lasted 2 hours and 55 minutes.
Samsonova doesn’t have time to enjoy her victory as she has her quarterfinal match to play earlier in the evening.
We witnessed a very high quality match between two players who had fire in their eyes.
difficult game
To everyone’s surprise, Sabalenka beamed as he appeared before the media just minutes after the defeat.
She didn’t look for pretexts or excuses, she accepted defeat like a big girl.
“It was a tough game, she played great tennis. I wasn’t ready to play my best tennis today. It wasn’t my best performance, I wasn’t good at containing my emotions.
Sabalenka admitted she was bothered by the postponement of the game, which was due to take place on Thursday.
“We had the same conditions,” she said. I didn’t handle the situation well. I didn’t feel good enough physically. I couldn’t move as well as I could.
Liudmila Samsonova coped well with the power of Aryna Sabalenka’s shots. Getty Images via AFP
bombs
First, let’s talk about the armed forces since they dropped bombs on each other during the confrontation. Sabalenka went on a streak where she won 12 straight on serve in the first set.
It was only in the fifth game of the second set that Sabalenka broke his first serve, which allowed him to win the set.
Things got complicated for Sabalenka in the third mission. In the fourth game she was the victim of a broken serve. She clawed back the serve in the seventh game, but Samsonova immediately responded with another break.
Sabalenka fought to the end but failed to secure a break in the last play.
irony
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out the irony of being promoted to this confrontation.
If a player scores an ace during the tournament, $30 will be donated to Tennis Plays for Peace, which raises funds for Ukraine.
Sabalenka had thirteen aces while Samsonova had eight.
That means Belarus and Russia have combined their efforts to raise $630 for Ukraine. There is something very poetic about all this.