Sabalenka soars into Stuttgart final, battles past Badosa

The world No 3 and 4 clashed in the Stuttgart semi-finals – and it was the former world No 2 who came out on top

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action during the second round of the 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix WTA 500 tennis tournament against Bianca Andreescu of Canada (Zuma/Panoramic)

Carrie Dunn

April 23, 2022

Stuttgart Porsche Grand Prix Tennis Open | Draw | Order of play

Aryna Sabalenka needed exactly 100 minutes to beat new world No 3 Paula Badosa to reach the Stuttgart final, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

The match was as close as might have been anticipated between the tournament’s second and third seeds.

Sabalenka fell behind early on but was resurgent in the tiebreak, again dropping back 4-1 before clawing it back and sealing the set 7-6 (5).

And Badosa crumbled under pressure, serving to stay in the match 5-4, 30-0 down in the second set, and finding only a double-fault to gift her opponent match point. Shockingly, she served another double-fault and, resigned, she walked to the net to congratulate the victor.

“It was a tough match,” admitted Sabalenka afterwards. “She’s the toughest opponent. I just tried to stay in the first set as long as I could and fight for every point, get the break back. I was lucky I got it. I’m so very happy with the result.”