By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday January 4, 2025
Aryna Sabalenka took out Mirra Andreeva in Brisbane, avenging a loss to the talented teen at Roland-Garros last year.
Photo Source: Gettyu
Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock loss to Russian teen Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals at Roland-Garros last year. Their next meeting was a far different contest.
The World No.1 battled past 16th-ranked Andreeva, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final at the Brisbane International, but not before the 17-year-old pushed her a bit.
Sabalenka had to save five break points in a tense opening set, but she took advantage of a loose service game from Andreeva in the eighth game of the set, before serving out the opener (while saving another break point in the process).
She saved all eight break points she faced over the course of the match.
Sabalenka will bid for her 18th career title on Sunday against Polina Kudermetova on Sunday in Brisbane. She is into her 31st career WTA final overall.
Kudermetova, a 107-ranked qualifier, got by Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday’s first semifinal.
Sabalenka improved to 3-1 lifetime over Andreeva, and 1-0 on hard courts – each of their three previous encounters had come on the red clay of Europe.
"It seems like everything was working really well for me," Sabalenka said. "She's an amazing player, young player, I'm pretty sure she's going to be Top 10 for so long, and pretty soon -- I'm just happy to get the win."
Though Andreeva had her chances to make a dent in the match, Sabalenka was better in the big moments as she continues to ramp up her form ahead of her quest to win a third consecutive Australian Open title later this month.
The Russian had a pair of break points to get back on serve while trailing 2-1 in the second set, but Sabalenka’s powerful groundstrokes took the racquet out of her hand in the ensuing sequence.
Sabalenka wasted little time in lengthening her advantage, breaking for 5-2 for a double-break lead. She served out the contest in the next game, closing the match in one hour and 29 minutes.