{"id":11728,"date":"2024-05-04T05:46:40","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T05:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=11728"},"modified":"2024-05-04T05:46:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T05:46:41","slug":"sabalenka-the-champion-sets-up-a-rematch-with-swiatek-in-madrid-open-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=11728","title":{"rendered":"Sabalenka, the champion, sets up a rematch with Swiatek in Madrid Open final."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/download-750x375-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/download-750x375-1.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/download-750x375-1-300x150.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Madrid: Defending Madrid Open champion Aryna Sabalenka produced a superb break to beat Setelena Rybakina to reach the final on Thursday.<br>The Belarusian second seed won 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7\/5) and will face world number one Iga Sviatek on Saturday in last year\u2019s final.<br>Klinik Swiatek previously beat American Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3.<br>In the men\u2019s competition, Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, suffered an injury in the quarterfinal match against Jiri Lehecka.<br>Kazakh Rybakina dominated Sabalenka down in the first set with two breaks, but put up a tougher fightback in the second after a break in the third game.<br>Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka put heavy pressure on her fourth-seeded serve and eventually broke to level at 4-4.<br>Rybakina quickly broke back but looked flustered as she served for the match as world No. 2 Sabalenka broke back at 5-5 and looked to force a decisive third set in the next two games.<br>The players managed only one break before the exchange break \u2013 Sabalenka held for a 6-5 advantage.<br>The Public Purview<br>Champion Sabalenka sets up Swiatek rematch in Madrid Open final<br>by Web Desk May 3, 2024 in Sports<br>Champion Sabalenka sets up Swiatek rematch in Madrid Open final<br>Share on Facebook<br>Share on Twitter<br>Madrid: Defending Madrid Open champion Aryna Sabalenka produced a superb break to beat Setelena Rybakina to reach the final on Thursday.<br>The Belarusian second seed won 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7\/5) and will face world number one Iga Sviatek on Saturday in last year\u2019s final.<br>Klinik Swiatek previously beat American Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3.<br>In the men\u2019s competition, Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, suffered an injury in the quarterfinal match against Jiri Lehecka.<br>Kazakh Rybakina dominated Sabalenka down in the first set with two breaks, but put up a tougher fightback in the second after a break in the third game.<br>Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka put heavy pressure on her fourth-seeded serve and eventually broke to level at 4-4.<br>Rybakina quickly broke back but looked flustered as she served for the match as world No. 2 Sabalenka broke back at 5-5 and looked to force a decisive third set in the next two games.<br>The players managed only one break before the exchange break \u2013 Sabalenka held for a 6-5 advantage.<br>The 25-year-old Sabalenka sealed victory with her usual strong serve that Rybakina couldn\u2019t hold.<br>The 24-year-old senior striker has lost three of his last four matches but won his first encounter on clay.<br>\u201cI don\u2019t know how, but somehow I managed to survive the second set,\u201d said Sabalenka, aiming for her third Madrid Open title in her third final.<br>\u201cIt was a tough match, good players, good tennis tonight.\u201d<br>-rematch-<br>Sviatek won 6-3 against Sabalenka, but won her only match in the Spanish capital a year ago in three sets to win the title.<br>Swiatek, who dominates on clay, put her feet on the wrong foot against Keys and committed just eight unforced errors in the match to leave the 29-year-old American without a chance.<br>\u201cI\u2019m very happy to have a solid match today,\u201d Swiatek said on court after reaching her 11th WTA 1000 final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Medvedev won just four of his last 16 points before calling it a night, leaving fans disappointed. Thursday\u2019s other men\u2019s quarterfinals were canceled following Sinner\u2019s withdrawal.<br>Medvedev, 28, is the defending champion at the Italian Open starting next week and the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the season, in three weeks\u2019 time.<br>\u201cIt will be good to return (to Rome) after last year\u2019s victory, but (I) have to see what it is, because now I don\u2019t know whether it is serious, whether it is serious or whether it is serious \u2013 no idea,\u201d Medvedev told reporters .<br>After the Russian against favorite Carlos Alcaraz at home on Wednesday, Taylor Fritz will face Andrei Rublev in the other semi-final on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madrid: Defending Madrid Open champion Aryna Sabalenka produced a superb break to beat Setelena Rybakina to reach the final on Thursday.The Belarusian second seed won 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7\/5) and&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":11729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[444],"class_list":["post-11728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-tennis-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11730,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728\/revisions\/11730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}