Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) advanced to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open with a prize pool of 8.8 million USD.
The 2nd-seeded Belarusian tennis player eliminated the 6th-seeded Cori Coco Gauff by 2-0 (6:4, 6:0) in just over an hour and achieved her 16th win in 17 matches since the start of the season.
Aryna Sabalenka started the match with a break, maintaining her lead until the end of the first set, and in the second set she did not even give a game to her opponent.
“I knew that if I showed my best tennis, I would have every chance to win this match. That’s why I’m glad that I was able to do it and I’m moving forward”, commented Aryna Sabalenka after the atch.
For a place in the final, she will face last year’s runner-up and 7th-seeded Maria Sakkari (Greece), who eliminated the 15th-seeded Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 2-1 (4:6, 7:5, 6:1).
Maria Sakkari recovered from a set deficit and a 1:3 in the second set and achieved a turnover after just over two hours and a quarter of play. Petra Kvitova made a total of 12 double faults and a total of 52 unforced errors in the match, which proved decisive.
