On a November evening in the WTA Finals, a nineteen-year-old who had been losing badly found her footing and never looked back. Mirra Andreeva, the French Open champion, overturned a 4-1 deficit against world number two Aryna Sabalenka and took the match 6-4 6-0, a result that tells as much about the fragility of a lead as about the strength of the player who overturned it. It secures her place in the semi-finals as group winner, while Sabalenka's fate now rests on a final group match against Elina Svitolina.
Andreeva Storms Past Sabalenka 6-4 6-0 with 11 Straight Games to Reach WTA Finals Semi-Finals
Andreeva did not lose another game after trailing 4-1
Mark
Eleven straight games against the world number two. Where did it actually turn?
Mimi
Andreeva was 4-1 down in the first set. She used high, looping balls to disrupt Sabalenka, and Sabalenka's errors started piling up from there.
Mark
Andreeva herself said she couldn't take all the credit. That's unusual.
Mimi
It is. She said Sabalenka didn't have her best day, and that claiming it all wouldn't be fair. But she also said her aim was to commit and control what she could.
Luke
Worth separating the numbers from the judgment. Sixteen winners to six unforced errors for Andreeva, 23 unforced errors and no aces for Sabalenka, those are match figures. Saying Sabalenka was erratic is the reporting's reading of it.
Mark
What about the knee taping?
Luke
The report says it didn't seem to hinder her. That's an observation, not a confirmed fact. We don't know whether the knee played any part.
Mimi
The report ties it more to her earlier collapses this year, including 6-0 deciding sets at the French Open and Berlin.
Mark
And Svitolina's route?
Mimi
She lost to Andreeva on Monday, then fell behind Muchova, took a hip timeout, and still won 3-6 6-2 6-2.
Luke
The hip injury is unexplained beyond the timeout. Whether it affects Friday against Sabalenka is unknown.
O Pulso
- Sabalenka held a double-break lead early and seemed in full command before the match slipped away from her.
- Andreeva rattled off eleven straight games, turning a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 6-0 rout in front of the field.
- Sabalenka's errors piled up, with 23 unforced mistakes and not a single ace, as her rhythm collapsed.
- Andreeva reached the semi-finals as group winner, but Sabalenka still has one match left to keep her season alive.
- Friday's clash with Svitolina will decide who joins Andreeva in the last four.
On a November evening in the WTA Finals, a nineteen-year-old who had been losing badly found her footing and never looked back. Mirra Andreeva, the French Open champion, overturned a 4-1 deficit against world number two Aryna Sabalenka and took the match 6-4 6-0, a result that tells as much about the fragility of a lead as about the strength of the player who overturned it. It secures her place in the semi-finals as group winner, while Sabalenka's fate now rests on a final group match against Elina Svitolina.
Mirra Andreeva trailed 4-1 in the first set against the world number two, Aryna Sabalenka, and then did not lose another game. Eleven in a row went to the 19-year-old Russian, who finished with a 6-4 6-0 win and a place in the semi-finals as group winner.
Sabalenka had been in control, holding a double-break lead early in the opening set. Then she won only ten more points in the entire match. Andreeva, the French Open champion, pulled her off rhythm with high loopy balls and then unleashed her own power, finishing with 16 winners against six unforced errors. Sabalenka, a four-time major winner with taping on her knee, hit 23 unforced errors and not a single ace, a collapse that came faster than her recent losses in deciding sets.
Andreeva was gracious afterwards, saying Sabalenka had not had her best day and that she could not take all the credit. Her goal, she said, was simply to commit fully and control what she could.
The result leaves Sabalenka needing to beat Elina Svitolina on Friday to reach the semi-finals. Svitolina has her own story of resilience: after losing to Andreeva on Monday, she dropped the first set to Karolina Muchova, took a medical timeout for a hip problem, and then fought back to win 3-6 6-2 6-2. Her anger at her first defeat, she said, became fuel for the ball.
Mirra Andreeva trailed 4-1 in the first set against the world number two, Aryna Sabalenka, at the WTA Finals. She did not lose another game. Eleven in a row went to the 19-year-old Russian, who finished with a 6-4 6-0 win and a place in the semi-finals as group winner.
The turn came out of a match Sabalenka had been controlling. She held a double-break lead early in the opening set, and after that she won only ten more points in the entire match. Andreeva, the French Open champion, began by sending loopy high balls that pulled Sabalenka off her rhythm. Then she showed the easy power in her own game, finishing with 16 winners against only six unforced errors and opening up sharp angles from the baseline.
There was one wobble. Serving for the first set, Andreeva went 15-30 down. She answered with three aces in a row to take the set and was not seriously troubled again.
Sabalenka, a four-time major singles winner, had taping on her knee, but it did not appear to restrict her movement. What unfolded looked more like the collapses that have marked parts of her year. She hit 23 unforced errors and did not produce a single ace. She lost deciding sets 6-0 at both the French Open and the Berlin Open this year, but this unravelling came much faster than either of those. It also came at a tournament where she had won the WTA Tour title at Indian Wells earlier in the season.
Andreeva was candid afterwards. She told Sky Sports she felt Sabalenka had not had her best day, and that she could not take all the credit, which she said would not be entirely fair. She said she had set herself a goal of committing fully and controlling the things within her control.
The result settles the group's top spot. On Friday, Sabalenka plays Elina Svitolina in the final group match, and the winner goes through to the semi-finals alongside Andreeva.
Svitolina kept that door open with a comeback of her own. The Ukrainian sixth seed had lost 6-4 6-0 to Andreeva on Monday, and she started just as badly against Karolina Muchova, dropping the first set 6-3. She then took a medical timeout for a right hip problem and soon faced an early break point. She saved it and gradually wore down the Wimbledon runner-up to win 3-6 6-2 6-2. Muchova hit 39 unforced errors, most of them off her forehand. The 32-year-old Svitolina tipped her head back and roared when it was over. She said she got angry at herself after the first match and the first set, and tried to direct that anger into the ball.
Elsewhere, at the Stockholm Open, Britain's Cameron Norrie lost 7-5 6-3 to world number 10 Taylor Fritz. Denmark's Holger Rune reached the quarter-finals, exactly a year after rupturing his Achilles at the same event. He returned to the ATP Tour only in October after twelve months of recovery, and beat Miomir Kecmanovic 2-6 6-1 6-4.
Citações Notáveis
She felt Sabalenka did not have her best day and that she could not take all the credit, as that would not be fair.— Mirra Andreeva, to Sky Sports
She tried to direct her anger towards the ball and found her game in the end.— Elina Svitolina, to Sky Sports
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Leia o original em BBC News ↗