Madrid Open Daily Preview: Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka Meet in a Second Consecutive Final - UBITENNIS
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Madrid Open Daily Preview: Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka Meet in a Second Consecutive Final

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Aryna Sabalenka has steamrolled her way to Saturday’s final (twitter.com/MutuaMadridOpen)

Just 13 days ago in Stuttgart, Barty and Sabalenka competed in the championship match, with Barty coming back from a set down to win the title, claiming 12 of the last 15 games.  On Saturday, Sabalenka looks to avenge that loss, and even their head-to-head at 4-4.  The women’s doubles championship will also be decided, between two of the top three seeds.

 

On the men’s side, the singles and doubles semifinals will be played.  Sascha Zverev hit a subpar Rafael Nadal right off the court on Friday, and just 24 hours later will try to take out the next-best clay courter of the last few years, Dominic Thiem.  Saturday will be a busy day for Zverev, as he’s also a semifinalist in doubles.  In the other singles semifinal, Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud will do battle, with the winner achieving their first Masters 1000 final. 

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the two most prominent matches of the day, and note the other intriguing matchups on the schedule.  Saturday’s play will begin at 1:30pm local time.

Dominic Thiem (3) vs. Sascha Zverev (5) – Not Before 4:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium

This will be their first encounter since their dramatic, yet rather ugly US Open final, where Thiem came back from two sets down to eventually prevail in a fifth set tiebreak.  Overall Dominic leads their head-to-head 8-2, and 4-1 on clay.  The Austrian has claimed their last four meetings, with Zverev’s last victory coming in the final of this event three years ago.  

Both men struggled with some nagging injuries prior to this event, but both have looked sharp to this stage.  Thiem overcame a one-set deficit on Friday against John Isner, while Zverev is yet to drop a set.  Defeating Nadal on clay is always a big achievement, especially when it’s your first time doing so.  It will be interesting to see if Sascha can maintain his high level from a day prior.  Zverev struck 28 winners on Friday, compared to only six by Nadal.

In last year’s US Open final, the winner of each set was the player who won a higher percentage of first serve points.  If you’re Sascha Zverev, there has to be some baggage from blowing a two-set lead in his first career Major final.  In a rivalry that has strongly favored Thiem, I like the reigning US Open champion to reach his third final in Madrid.

Ash Barty (1) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (5) – Not Before 6:30pm on Manolo Santana Stadium

They’ve already met twice this year, in Miami and Stuttgart, with Barty taking both matches in a third set by a score of 6-3.  In their Stuttgart final, converting break points was a key difference.  Barty broke five times, while Sabalenka only claimed two out of 10 break points.  That exemplifies the composure of the world No.1, who has won 16 out of her last 18 deciding sets. 

Sabalenka hasn’t faced a deciding set this fortnight, as she’s been dominating all competition.  No opponent has claimed more than three games in a set.  Aryna has spent about three less hours on court than Barty, though that shouldn’t be a significant factor on Saturday.  Both players had a day of rest on Friday, and comfortably won their Thursday semifinals in straight sets.

Barty has amassed several impressive streaks: 9 straight match wins, 16 straight on red clay, and 10 straight victories over top 10 opposition.  She’s also prevailed in 10 of her last 12 finals.  Similarly, Sabalenka has won seven of her last nine finals.  Yet as impressive as the Belarusian has been, winning 32 of her last 38 matches, she’s only 1-3 during that span against the top 10.  If these two go the distance again, it’s harder for Sabalenka to maintain her level than Barty.  And Ash possesses many more backup plans in her arsenal.  In what should be another tight contest, I give the slight edge to Barty to earn her fourth title of the year.

Other Notable Matches on Saturday:

Matteo Berrettini (8) vs. Casper Ruud – Berrettini is on a seven-match win streak, dating back to his title run two weeks ago in Belgrade.  Ruud is into his third consecutive Masters 1000 semifinal on clay, and all 14 of his wins at this level have come on this surface.  Casper has been serving spectacularly, as he’s yet to be broken at this event, facing only one break point thus far.  They’ve split two previous meetings, with the clay court clash going to Ruud in straight sets, two years ago at Roland Garros.

Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (2) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Demi Schuurs (3) – Krejcikova and Siniakova won the Gippsland Trophy earlier this season, and reached the final of the Australian Open.  This is the first tournament for Dabrowski and Schuurs as a team.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (2) vs. Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen – Mektic and Pavic have now won 31 of 34 matches since teaming up for 2021.  Their Belgian opponents won the Singapore Open earlier this year, then went on a five-match losing streak before reaching the final of Munich last week.

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (3) vs. Tim Puetz and Sascha Zverev – Granollers and Zeballos are looking to reach their second final of the season.  This is Puetz and Zverev’s second event this season as a team.  In Miami, the Germans defeated Granollers and Zeballos in straight sets.

Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Carlos Alcaraz Satisfied With ‘Complete’ Roland Garros Performance

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Taro Daniel in four sets to set up a third round meeting at Roland Garros with Denis Shapovalov.

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Carlos Alcaraz was satisfied with his ‘complete’ Roland Garros performance after a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2 win over Taro Daniel.

 

The world number one needed four sets to reach the third round as both players had to adapt to windy conditions.

After an aggressive second set from Daniel, Alcaraz stamped his authority on the match as he only dropped three games in the last two games.

Speaking after the match Alcaraz described his performance against Daniel as ‘complete’, “Yeah, I’m really happy with the level that I played today,” Alcaraz said in his press conference.

“I mean, overcome the problems that was in the match because the windy and, yeah, it has been a really complete match from my side, and I’m really happy with that.”

Alcaraz also admitted that he has been training in Vienna to prepare for the windy conditions like today, “Well, is tough, you know, but I could say that I’m a player who plays really well with the windy,” the Spaniard added.

“I practice in Vienna that has a lot of windy, a lot of days, you know, and I’m used to play with windy, let’s say. It’s tough, because you play two games with windy, plus windy, and two games against windy, and it’s really tough to adapt your game into that.

“You know, I tried to, you know, to play as best as I can, you know, with the windy. Today I think I played a good level with that.”

Alcaraz will look to continue to adapt to conditions in Paris as he searches for his second Grand Slam title.

Next for Alcaraz will be powerful Canadian Denis Shapovalov and the Spaniard admitted it will be a difficult match on Friday, “I have never played against him. But I practiced in Barcelona with him. But everybody knows his level,” the top seed explained.

“It’s going to be really difficult, really difficult match. I have to be ready on that, really focused on his shots. But as I said a lot of times, I always try not to, you know, think about the opponent. I always try to think about me, about myself, you know, about my game, and try to put it into the match.

“All I can say is tomorrow is a day off for me, and we are gonna think about the match tomorrow with my team and let’s see how it’s gonna be.”

The match will be the first meeting between the two players with a spot in the fourth round at stake.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas ‘Excited’ To Break More Records After Sealing 20th Roland Garros Win

Stefanos Tsitsipas is ‘excited’ to break more records after securing his 20th Roland Garros victory.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas (@atptour - Twitter)

Stefanos Tsitsipas is ‘excited’ to break more records as he claimed a 20th victory at Roland Garros.

 

The Greek progressed to the third round of Roland Garros with a straight sets win over Roberto Carballes Baena.

Tsitsipas’ win was the 51st of his Grand Slam career as well as the 20th victory that he secured at Roland Garros.

Speaking after the win Tsitsipas spoke about the satisfaction he gets when he breaks records, “I am very much in when it comes to breaking records. I get excited when I see personal records being kind of set and broken,” Tsitsipas said in his press conference.

“Of course it’s a great satisfaction to be seeing those stats, because there is so much work behind it, and sometimes it’s difficult to grasp the fact that it all happened so quickly.

“I just wish to keep on going. I wish to be healthy and to be fighting for more titles and breaking personal records but also records that haven’t been set before in tennis, like that serve thing that happened in Madrid was quite cool, actually. I never thought about it. It just happened.”

Tsitsipas will look to gain more Grand Slam wins in the future as he aims for a maiden Grand Slam title over the next two weeks.

The world number five also spoke about how tennis is a psychological sport and how important it is to perform well under pressure, “Well, it’s psychological, I believe, a big important part of the game,” Tsitsipas said.

“As I said, in the tiebreaker, my mind shifted. It changed towards something — well, I wasn’t aiming too much for being conservative, and that led me, that for sure I owe to that, that I was able to win a tiebreaker because of that.

“The psychological state that you’re in when you play is “the” most important thing, and this starts from outside of the court. If you’re able to be in peace and balance before you step on the court, that’s already a big
advantage that you have.

“Of course technical, these are minor things that you can always improve on and are much more controllable in a way and have external force too. But I think if you’re a player that can perform big on pressure moments, that is the thing that is going to just give you a good career in tennis.

“There are a few guys that can play good under pressure, especially in big, tight moments, and you have to have the mental strength of a Navy SEAL to pull it through, in a way. You have to have the physique of a marathon runner, the lungs of a marathon runner.

“You have to have the power of a football player, so back to the hard-work part, there is just so many little components that you have to link up in order to make this unbelievable player where you allow yourself to be unstoppable.”

This is a fascinating insight from Tsitsipas on the psychological work it takes to become a successful tennis player.

Now Tsitsipas looks to use these elements to his advantage as he looks to finally make his Grand Slam breakthrough in Paris.

The fifth seed’s Roland Garros charge will now continue on Friday where he plays Nuno Borges or Diego Schwartzman.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas Eases Past Carballes Baena To Reach Roland Garros Third Round

Stefanos Tsitsipas cruised into the third round at Roland Garros with victory over Roberto Carballes Baena.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas cruised past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2 to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

 

The Greek played a near-flawless match to reach the last 32 in Paris as he aims for his maiden Grand Slam title.

Tsitsipas is in Alcaraz’s quarter of the draw and is looking to send a statement of intent to the rest of the draw that he can contend for the title.

Next up for Tsitsipas on Friday is either Diego Schwartzman or Nuno Borges.

The world number five did struggle on serve initially to start the match but gained the early break in the third game with some powerful backhands.

As expected Carballes Baena retaliated with some consistent baseline play, forcing Tsitsipas into engaging in the longer rallies.

The Spaniard had a decent clay season entering Roland Garros and displayed those qualities in the fourth game by creating a break point.

However Tsitsipas survived the game with some clutch play to take a 3-1 lead and would remain efficient throughout the rest of the set, claiming it 6-3.

After a couple of tight service games, to start the second set Tsitsipas once again raised his level on return breaking twice with some powerful returning.

That didn’t mean much in terms of score advantage for Tsitsipas as Carballes Baena was just as efficient on return and took advantage of some tactical errors from the fifth seed.

The Spaniard broke straight back on both occasions as the second set was level at 4-4.

There was a high standard on serve as both players constructed points effectively and were really smart with their methods in order to remain efficient on serve.

In the end there was nothing to separate them as the second set went to a tiebreak with both players impressing in crucial moments.

The tiebreak remained close but Tsitsipas produced world-class shot-making when it mattered most as a forehand winner secured the tiebreak 7-4.

From then on, it was one-way traffic as an early double break lead effectively secured the third set in the match as Tsitsipas cruised into the third round.

After an early scare against Jiri Vesely, Tsitsipas will be pleased to have won today’s contest in more straight-forward fashion as he looks forward to a third round showdown with either Diego Schwartzman or Nuno Borges.

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