Aryna Sabalenka has said that her mental toughness was the key to beating Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 and reaching the Madrid final.
The second seed surged past Sakkari in 85 minutes as she secured her fifth WTA final of the season.
Sabalenka finished the match in ruthless fashion after a competitive start to the match as she broke on four occasions and won nine of the last eleven games.
After the semi-final, Sabalenka explained that it was her best match of the tournament so far, “I think it was actually my best match of the tournament,” Sabalenka told the WTA website.
“I started really well. Then Maria came back. But mentally I was staying really strong. I knew that she’s going to fight for every point. It didn’t, how to say, didn’t destroy me that she came back. I was still playing, I was still fighting for every point.
“Yeah, I’m super happy with the level that I played, and especially with my mental game, I would say. I’m more happy with my mental game.”
Sabalenka’s mental toughness under pressure has been a key theme of Sabalenka’s season as she targets a third title of the season.
Next for Sabalenka will either be top seed Iga Swiatek or 12th seed Veronika Kudermetova.
Should Swiatek win the second semi-final, then it will be the second consecutive tournament that they’ve met in the final with the Pole winning their meeting in Stuttgart.
