By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Aryna Sabalenka won six straight games stopping Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1 to move into the Moscow quarterfinals in her Kremlin Cup debut.
Photo credit: Getty
Aryna Sabalenka delivered closing power in her Kremlin Cup comeback.
Playing her first match since a three-set defeat in the US Open semifinals, Sabalenka surged through six straight games stopping Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1 to move into the Moscow quarterfinals.
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Sabalenka improved to 44-15 on the season, raising her record to 9-13 in three-setters, which have sometimes proved tricky to navigate for the power-based baseliner. Not today.
The top-seeded Sabalenka smacked 10 aces and played with aggression on pivotal points. Four of the final six games were decided after deuce with Sabalenka winning three of those four tightly-contested games.
This was Sabalenka’s first match in six weeks—she was forced to withdraw from Indian Wells after a bout with Coronavirus—and she should be satisfied with her performance on pressure points.
The pair traded breaks in the eighth and ninth games before Sabalenka surged through the tiebreaker for a one-set lead.
Making her Moscow main-draw debut, Sabalenka knew she was in for a stiff test as Tomljanovic carried the confidence from toppling sixth-ranked Garbine Muguruza in Indian Wells earlier this month.
World No. 43 Tomljanovic dropped serve at love to start the second set but broke back at 30 to even the set after four games.
Tomljanovic lifted her level in the latter stages of set two winning eight of the last nine points to force a decider.
That’s when Sabalenka stepped it up with a shotmaking storm. The Wimbledon semifinalist, who converted five of 10 break points, charged through six straight games to close in two hours, seven minutes.
The second-ranked Belarusian celebrated the win signing autographs for kids and sharing hugs with family and friends courtside. Sabalenka beat Tomljanovic en route to the Abu Dhabi final at the start of the season and will try to replicate that roll in Moscow.
Next up for Sabalenka is a quarterfinal clash vs. home favorite Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The 37th-ranked Russian won 19 of 23 first-serve points defeating Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-1 in 79 minutes.
Alexandrova reeled off 16 of the last 18 points powering through a 79-minute victory to improve to 23-19 on the season. Sabalenka has won two of three meetings vs. Alexandrova with the Russian’s lone victory coming in the 2017 Shenzhen final.
Earlier, the second-seeded Muguruza converted seven of 18 break-point chances subduing Tereza Martincova 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to her seventh quarterfinal of the season.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza will play either ninth-seeded Anett Kontaveit or Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals.