Aryna Sabalenka delivered another solid performance against Jelena Ostapenko, advancing to the 2024 Italian Open semi-final.
These two fascinating tennis players hail from the same part of Europe, and they provided a decent show in the Italian capital. Ostapenko has a huge personality both on and off the court, and she brought some of that spice to this match.
The matchup with Sabalenka is a tricky one for the Latvian, simply because she's a similar player who is just slightly better at what Ostapenko does. Both of them heavily rely on their power and hitting ability, but the world no. 2 is far more consistent with that.
She showed all of that in the opening set of their match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, which finished 6-2 for Sabalenka. She was marvelous in that set, basically winning all the points on her serve while doing enough on the return to win the set comfortably.
Ostapenko didn't play badly; she just wasn't as sharp as Sabalenka. It's a matchup of margins, and the margins favored the second seed far more in the opening set. The Latvian found better consistency in the second set, though.
She raced through her games without many issues but still failed to do much on the return. Sabalenka also served better in the second set, but it didn't really help the Latvian.
She herself didn't serve as well, so eventually, the break chances came for the two-time Australian Open champion. It was at 3-3 in the second set, and she converted them immediately to take a 4-3 lead.
It was mostly a simple cruise to the finish line, as Sabalenka won the match 6-2, 6-4. It was her cleanest performance so far in Rome, so she's certainly peaking at the right time. On the other hand, Ostapenko will have to work on her consistency if she truly wants to get to the top.
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