World’s No 2 in women’s tennis Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open clay tournament with a prize pool of 7.7 million EUR after defeating Mayar Sherif (Egypt) by 2-1 (2:6, 6:2, 6:1) in nearly two hours of play.
The Belarusian tennis player had a hard time before achieving success. In the first set, Mayar Sherif made two breaks and won by 6:2. Aryna Sabalenka continued with her hesitant performance in the second set as well, conceding two breaks, but then she was more than decisive winning 5 consecutive games and closing the set at 6:2 in her favor. The decisive third set was entirely in favor of Aryna Sabalenka, who left no chances to her rival and reached 6:1.
In the semi-finals, Aryna Sabalenka will face the 9th-seeded Maria Sakkari (Greece), who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu by 2-1 (6:7, 6:4, 6:2).
The Belarusian tennis player has already won two titles this year and lost the Stuttgart final to world number one Iga Swiatek last month.
