Tennis-Top seed Sabalenka beats Masarova in straight sets to reach Berlin quarters
Jun 7, 2025; Paris, FR; Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot during the women's singles final against Coco Gauff of the United States on day 14 at Roland Garros Stadium. Susan Mullane-Imagn Images/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) -Aryna Sabalenka completed a 6-2 7-6(6) win over Swiss Rebeka Masarova on Thursday to reach the Berlin Open quarter-finals, completing a match that had been suspended on Wednesday because of slippery conditions.
The Belarusian, playing for the first time since losing to American Coco Gauff in the French Open final almost two weeks ago, was a set up on Wednesday when play was stopped after tournament officials said the court was getting too slippery with humidity rising after sunset.
When the match resumed on Thursday the 27-year-old was broken at the start of the second set and found herself 3-1 and 4-2 down.
She kept her cool, however, and broke back with a fine volley to force a tiebreak.
Sabalenka squandered two matchpoints before sealing her victory at her next opportunity when her opponent sank a simple mid-court forehand into the net.
Less than two weeks before Wimbledon, the top seed will next face either Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan or Czech Katerina Siniakova.
Fellow Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, needed three sets and two hours and 20 minutes to break the resistance of Russia's Diana Shnaider.
Vondrousova, who was 6-5 and 30-0 up in the second set, advanced with a 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3 win and will face lucky loser Ons Jabeur, a two-time Wimbledon finalist, in the last eight.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
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