Unseeded Aryna Sabalenka Reaches Eastbourne Final - UBITENNIS
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Unseeded Aryna Sabalenka Reaches Eastbourne Final

Aryna Sabalenka won a rollercoaster three-set clash with Agnieszka Radwanska to make it through to her first WTA Premier final.

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Aryna Sabalenka continued her remarkable run at the 2018 Nature Valley International with an impressive 6-3 1-6 6-3 win over Agnieszka Radwanska.

The result takes her through to her first WTA Premier final and means she will move up to at least No.32 in the new set of world rankings on Monday.

Sabalenka’s match against Radwanska started in bizarre fashion with six consecutive breaks of serve as both players struggled to find their rhythm.

However, there was plenty of good tennis show in that time. Sabalenka cracked three huge winners in succession in game four and then Radwanska flicked a delightful cross-court forehand past her opponent in game five.

Game six was high-quality too, as the Pole hit an excellent backhand volley and the Belarussian unleashed a brutal forehand winner to seal her third break.

The set’s crucial moments came in game seven when Sabalenka became the first player to hold serve. She fought back superbly from 15-40 to do it.

Both players were sloppy in the next game, but the Belarussian managed to find a pair of winners when she needed them most to earn another break. She then held to love to seal the first set.

Radwanska fights back

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In the opening game of the second set, Sabalenka hit an extraordinary return. Radwanska tossed a serve out wide, which most players would have struggled to get a racket to. However, the Belarussian not only reached it, she slammed it around the net onto the side-line for a winner.

Shortly after that, Sabalenka lobbed Radwanska to break her yet again. Things were looking very bad for the Pole at this stage, but it was all about to change.

Having played so well to get to 6-3 and 1-0 with a break, the Belarussian experienced a big dip in performance. It started with four unforced errors as she dropped serve.

Then she watched as Radwanska produced an excellent game to hold serve for the first time in the match. The Pole hit a lovely half-volley winner and a superb forehand pass before sealing it with an unreturnable serve.

Radwanska did not have to do much to win the next game. She hit a beautiful floaty drop shot to win the first point and then put the ball in play repeatedly and enticed Sabalenka to make a series of errors.

The rest of the second set continued in similar fashion. The Belarussian made plenty more errors as she dropped serve twice more, and the former World No.2 eventually sealed the set 6-1 with a classy forehand pass followed by another error from Sabalenka.

Sabalenka steps up

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In stark contrast to the rest of the match, the decider began with four consecutive holds. Radwanska then played two brilliant points in game five, finishing one with a delicate lob and the other with backhand volley, as she broke to lead 3-2.

However, that was the last game the Pole won as Sabalenka dialled up her aggression. She hit three winners to fight back from 40-0 on Radwanska’s serve and break for 3-3.

Then she hit three winners to go 40-0 up, two double faults and an error to fall back to deuce, and then two more winners to secure a vital hold.

In game eight, the Belarussian was imperious. She slammed four brilliant backhands, three of them outright winners, to break the Pole to love.

The final game of the match was more typical of Sabalenka as she hit a few winners and made a few unforced errors before eventually sealing with a forehand that Radwanska could barely lay a racket on.

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World No.634 Laura Samson Reaches First WTA Quarter-Final At 16

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Laura Samon - image via itftennis.com/ photo credi: Manuel Queimadelos

Laura Samson has become the first player born in 2008 to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA event after producing a surprise win on Tuesday. 

The 16-year-old wildcard stunned second seed Katerina Siniakova 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the second round at the Prague Open. Her triumph occurred a day after she dropped just two games against Tara Wurth in her opening match. This week is Samson’s Tour debut after playing 10 events on the lower-level ITF circuit. 

“I’m extremely surprised,” she said during her on-court interview after beating Siniakova. “I didn’t go into it as favorite. I’m so proud of myself and I hope I will continue to play like this. As I was going into the second set I thought, ‘I have nothing to lose, I didn’t play good in the first set.’ I’m not really sure when [I thought I could win], I just believed myself in the third set.” 

Samson is the latest Czech player to break through following a sucessful junior career. Last year she won the Wimbledon girls’ doubles title and was runner-up in the French Open singles tournament in June. She is currently No.3 in the ITF junior rankings but has been ranked as high as No.1. 

Earlier this year, Samson decided to change her name on the Tour by dropping the last three letters (ova). The reason why she did so was to avoid getting confused with another player. 

“I first noticed it last year, there was a problem that I was getting strings (the) of Lyudmila Samsonova,” she told tenisovysvet.cz.

“I also talked about it with her and, for example, according to the schedule, she also sometimes thought she was playing, but it was me,” 

“I would have liked the ending -ová, but unfortunately it turned out like this.”

The teenager will next take on world No.248 Oksana Selekhmeteva with the winner of that match progressing to their first WTA semi-final.  21-year-old Selekhmeteva is a former top 10 junior player who came through two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. She is a two-time junior Grand Slam champion in doubles. 

There are five seeds remaining in the tournament, including top seed Linda Nosková who will play Germany’s Ella Seidel in her next match. 

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Krejcikova Comes Alive With Her Serve To Win 12th Grand Slam Title At Wimbledon

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image via x.com/wimbledon

It must have seemed like the whole world was against her when Barbora Krejcikova served for the match for a third time against crowd favorite Jasmine Paolini.

But Krejcikova was only going for her 12th Grand Slam title. She was well prepared.

So, she released her patented way-out-wide serve to the smallish Paolini’s backhand, and the best the Italian could do was get her racket on the ball enough to return the serve far off the court, long and wide.

ARMS UP FOR A CHAMPION

The weight of the world was gone as Krejcikova threw her arms over her head and calmly walked to the net to greet the Wimbledon runner-up.

Now, Krejcikova was half-way home to a career Grand Slam in singles. She already owns a career Grand Slam in doubles among her dozen Grand Slam titles that also include one mixed doubles Grand Slam title.

She has won the hard ones, the French Open on clay and Wimbledon on grass.

At 28 years old, anything must look possible to this 5-10 Czech.

KREJCIKOVA COMES THROUGH UNDER PRESSURE

Paolini simply was out played in a second straight Grand Slam final, on clay and on grass. Now she faces the real tests, two straight Grand Slam tournaments on hard surfaces that might not be overly friendly to the 5-4 Paolini.

But there it was, a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory for Krejcikova on Wimbledon’s famed Center Court.

After what might be called a throw-away second set for Krejcikova, she came alive in the third set, pinning Paolini to the deep corners while nailing low hard-hit balls to both corners.

Krejcikova got off to 40-0 starts on her first four service games of the decisive set and ended all four with service winners to take a 5-3 lead (with the aid of the only service break of the third set). She yielded only one point in those four service games, a double fault at 40-0 that was followed by an ace.

Of course, it was the serve again that saved the day for Krejcikova and gave her set points two and three, then sealed the deal for a spot in Wimbledon history.

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award  for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. 

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Wimbledon Finalist Jasmine Paolini – ‘I’m A Little Bit Scared To Dream Too Much’

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After coming close to her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, Jasmine Paolini believes consistency is key to having another shot at glory.

The 28-year-old dropped only one set en route to becoming the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon final. However, she was denied the title by Barbora Krejcikova, who won in three sets. Paolini was broken once in the decider which was due to a double fault from the Italian following an unsuccessful hawk-eye challenge made on her first serve. Then she failed to convert two break points when down 4-5 before Krejcikova held to seal glory.

“I started bad,” she reflected afterwards.

“I took some time and try to relax and to come back in the second set stronger to try to push the ball more because I was a little bit controlling too much, and I missed a lot of shots.

“She was playing, honestly, very good the first set. She was serving really, really good. High percentage of first serves.

“It was tough but I think I did better than the last final (at the French Open), but still it’s not enough.”

Prior to Saturday, Paolini had scored wins over former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, Medison Keys (via retirement) and a marathon victory over Donna Vedic. She has now won 15 Grand Slam matches in 2024 compared to just one last season.

The defeat comes less than two months after the French Open where Paolini contested her first major final but lost in two sets to world No.1 Iga Swiatek. Since the start of this season, she has risen more than 20 places in the rankings and will reach No.5 on Monday.

Despite being in her late 20s, the Italian is producing some of her best tennis on the Tour. Something she credits to a combination of things. 

“I improved my game a little bit. I believe more in myself. I improved my serve. I think I improve the return.” She explained.

“I think physically I’m better than two years ago. I’ve been working with a new fitness coach for one-and-a-half years.

“There are many things, I think. Not just one. I think also winning matches helps a lot.”

Whilst she is heading in the right direction on the Tour, Paolini has vowed not to get too ahead of herself.

“Sometimes I’m a little bit scared to dream too much.” she said.

“I’m going back, trying to practice and stay in the present. This is the goal for me and my team, to try to keep this level as much as possible.

“If I keep this level, I think I can have the chance to do great things.

“Today I was dreaming of holding the (Wimbledon) trophy but it didn’t go well.

“I’m just enjoying the position where I am right now.”

Paolini has won 30 out of 43 matches on the Tour so far this season.

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