Aryna Sabalenka crashes out in Berlin after slow start

BERLIN – If Aryna Sabalenka were to win another Grand Slam this season, she knows that she will have to improve massively or, at the very least, do better than she did at the WTA 500 event in Berlin on Thursday.

The Belarusian world No. 2, who is the Australian Open champion and who made it to the semi-finals of the French Open, suffered a slow start in the second round against Russian wildcard Veronika Kudermetova before losing 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).

Sabalenka failed to recover from going down 4-0 in the first set, as she surrendered 6-2 to her world No. 10 opponent.

The second set began quite the same as the first, with the top seed once again broken by Kudermetova in the very first game.

And although she put up more of a fight, she could not get the better of the Russian and fell in the tiebreak.

The defeat does not bode well for the 25-year-old Sabalenka, who is bidding to win her second Grand Slam title when Wimbledon gets under way on July 3.

For Kudermetova, she had all the belief that she could win.

“I always believe in myself. I know I can play really well. I always believe,” she said.

“I already get used to playing on the grass (she finished runner-up at the Libema Open last week), but for Aryna it’s her first two matches on the grass. So (I have) a little bit advantage.

“But what can I say, I mean, I played really well today.”

Kudermetova advanced to the quarter-finals, where she will take on compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova, who extended her winning streak to seven matches following a 6-4, 6-0 upset of fifth-seeded American Coco Gauff.

The 28-year-old Alexandrova, who beat Kudermetova to win the Libema Open title in the Netherlands, clinched her second win over a top-10 player in 2023 after she also defeated Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in Miami.

Ranked 22nd in the world, she has gone largely under the radar but could be ready to emerge from the shadows of tennis’ biggest stars at Wimbledon.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Alexandrova, when asked about her strong grass-court form.

“Grass is not my favourite surface but, somehow, I’m managing to play so well on it.

“And maybe the score looks easy, but it’s never like that.

“I needed to stay focused during every single point to keep it that way. I’m just hoping I can keep this form as long as I can.”

The Russian trailed 3-1 in the first set but she fought back and won 11 of the last 12 games to reach the Berlin quarter-finals for only the second time in her career.

In other matches on Wednesday, Elena Rybakina suffered a setback in the build-up to her Wimbledon title defence when she was knocked out by Donna Vekic.

The 23rd-ranked Croat beat the second-seeded Kazakh 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-4 to make it through to the quarter-finals to face Elina Avanesyan of Russia.

An Australian Open finalist in January, the 24-year-old Rybakina was one of the favourites for the French Open but pulled out early due to a fever and breathing difficulties.

She recovered well to make it to Berlin, and will need more of the same bounce-back mentality when she takes to the court at the All England Club following her loss.

In Birmingham,

China’s Zhu Lin stunned third seed Magda Linette to reach the quarter-finals

with a surprise 6-3, 6-0 victory.

The 29-year-old, ranked 39th, had defeated British No. 1 Katie Boulter 7-5, 7-5 in the first round on the Birmingham grass.

She improved on that impressive result with a comprehensive rout of Polish No. 20 Linette, and will be up against Canadian Rebecca Marino next.

In the men’s competition, world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Halle Open, losing 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 to Chilean Nicolas Jarry, ranked 28th in the world.

It marks the third consecutive time the Greek has been knocked out in the second round of the tournament in the German city.
AFP, REUTERS