World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka managed to break the resistance of the Italian Jasmine Paolini (No. 4) beaten (6-3, 7-5 in 1h30) in the second match of the second day of the purple group of the WTA Masters, Monday in Riyadh .
This new victory ofAryna Sabalenka, after the one against Qinwen Zheng (nº7) Saturday, condemns the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (nº5), eliminated from the race for the semi-finals after her second defeat in two matches in these Masters, against the Chinese a little earlier.
In this match of extremes, between one of the tallest players on the circuit, Sabalenka (1.82m), and one of the smallest, Jasmine Paolini (1.63m), the highest ranked immediately took the Italian's serve to lead 2-0.
Despite his resistance, Paolini gave up the first round in 35 minutes.
Change of scenery in the second where this time, it was the Italian who took Sabalenka's first service game to lead 2-0, on a double fault from the Belarusian.
Jolted by Paolini's speed, the new world No. 1 gritted her teeth, lining up winning returns and four games. But at 4-3, another blow of slack. Sabalenka committed two double faults and an unforced error, allowing Paolini to equalize at 4-4, then regain the lead 5-4 on his serve, and even obtain two set points.
She managed to save them before finally winning in two rounds.
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