Aryna Sabalenka reaches 3rd straight French Open quarterfinal, to face Qinwen Zheng

India Today

2 days ago

Aryna Sabalenka overcame a stiff challenge from Amanda Anisimova to make it to her third consecutive French Open quarter-final on Sunday, June 1. Sabalenka will take on Qinwen Zheng in the final eight stage but had to dig deep in the first set to overcome Anisimova. Coming into the contest, Sabalenka had lost five of her seven previous meetings with Anisimova. One of them was at Roland Garros in 2019, as a young Anisimova went to the semi-finals. However, the Belarussian star was able to show the form that has helped her claim the top spot in the rankings and held off the American to win the match 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 32 minutes. advertisementFrench Open 2025 Day 8 Updates
During the match, it felt that Sabalenka was going to run away with the match as she grabbed an early 4-1 lead and she held her first set point at 5-3. But Anisimova decided to bring some of her best play at that point, putting Sabalenka on the back foot. She quickly levelled things up and held two break points at 6-5. However, the World No.1 quickly thwarted it away with a couple of good serves and an ace to hold at 6-5. This proved to be the crucial point as Sabalenka was able to break Anisimova to claim the first set. Sabalenka raced to a 5-2 lead quickly, but Anisimova came in once again to save a total of six match points. advertisementThe World No.1 was able to regroup and get the win in the end. Sabalenka praised Anisimova for the challenge on the day and said she was happy with the win. "She is a great player, a tough one," Sabalenka said in a post-match interview."We had tough battles in the past. Honestly I was so focused, put as much pressure on her, change some rhythm. I am super happy with the win. She challenged me a lot."Sabalenka, who hasn't gone past the semi-final round Roland Garros, said that she is super hungry this time around and wants to be there till the very last day. "I am super hungry for this tournament. I want to stay until the very last day," said Sabalenka. The World No.1 will face Zheng, who overcame an early wobble to beat Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(5) 1-6 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals for the first time in her career.