Aryna Sabalenka praised her comeback against Nikola Bartunkova after the world number one advanced to the semi-finals in Berlin.
The top seed was 6-2 4-0 down to the 20 year-old sensation as she looked in trouble in what would have been a big blow to her Wimbledon preparations.
However, Sabaelenka rallies back and produced a 2-6 7-6(2) 6-4 win in two hours and 22 minutes to reach the final four in Germany.
After the match Sabalenka hailed her ‘miraculous’ comeback and spoke about how bright Bartunkova’s future looks, “I think when I (made) a couple approaches to the net on my serve in that 4-0 game, it gave me a little bit of confidence that maybe I can show her that I still have something left. I don’t know, I was just trying to stay in the game,” Sabalenka admitted to the WTA website.
“I tried to find the rhythm, and I honestly think it was just a lucky match. I miraculously came back in the second set and then of course, I got some confidence that I can win this one. She played incredible tennis, not much I could do. She was just smacking the ball; it was unbelievable level and honestly, I felt like it was her match. Oh my god, what a player. What an incredible young girl, and a future superstar for sure.”
The world number one will be hoping that she can play a better match against Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals after Pegula came through in two tiebreaks against Madison Keys.
It was in Bad Homburg where Pegula won her first grass court title last year and now the American is aiming for another title in Germany.
Speaking ahead of the semi-finals Pegula spoke about the keys to playing well on grass, “Sometimes on grass I’m not really aiming,” Pegula stated to the WTA website.
“It just goes wherever it wants to go. I think sometimes when you overthink and you try to aim too much, the grass can really kind of play you, and you lose control of the ball. So I just try to commit to hitting in the vicinity of the court. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad.”
Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 9-3 and this is their first meeting of the season so far.
The other semi-final will see Linda Noskova take on Alexandra Eala.
