World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka showed steel nerves and champion resolve to beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the Berlin Open quarterfinals on Friday, saving four match points in the tiebreak in the final set.
Rybakina led 6-2 on the decision breaker and showed up on the brink of securing a place in the semi-finals, but the momentum was shaking with the favor of Sabalenka after being denied a victory at the first match point on the netcode.
The Belarusians rolled up five straight points and ultimately scored a victory as Rivakina swayed under pressure.
Sabalenka’s grit and power proved decisive against the 2022 Wimbledon Champion. The first set was a seesaw fight, with Rivakina taking a 4-2 lead before Sabalenka came back straight. Both players held the serve from 4-4 to force a tiebreak, and Sabalenka closed it 8-6.
Rybakina responded by taking a 2-0 lead in the second set and breaking again to close 6-3.
The deciding set was heavily contested, with Sabalenka being destroyed 5-4, but was unable to compete in the match as Rivakina broke and held 6-5. Sabalenka was then pressured to force a tiebreak, creating the most dramatic twist of the match.
“Elena, she’s a great player. We had a lot of tough fights in the final stages. She’s a great player and I think I’m just lucky how I could score the last points,” Sabalenka said after the match.
“I just started, and I won a lot of games, and in reality I was like, “It’s been a while since I made a crazy comeback that long ago.”
“It’s amazing to win a match like this. I’m proud to train your fighting spirit for the next tournament and try it all the way to the last point.”
Sabalenka will face Czech Marketa Vondorsova, who has been aiming for her first final since winning Wimbledon in 2023. Bondrossova defeated Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-1 in the rematch of the 2023 Wimbledon final.
Chinese qualifying king Xinyu reached the semi-finals after eighth seed Paula Badosa retired due to correct hip injury during the quarter-final collision.
Ranked 49th in the world, King was leading 6-1, 0-0 when Badosa escaped from the contest. The visibly annoyed Spaniard smashed her racket following the post-match handshake and threw it across the court.
The 23-year-old King is enjoying a breakout week in the German capital, beating second seed Kokogoff in the previous round. She will then face either American Amanda Anisimova or Russian Lyudmira Samsonova.