Aryna Sabalenka forgot a rather bad outing at the Canadian Open to overcome an inspired effort from Ann Li at the Cincinnati Masters.
Sabalenka is generally used to destroying players on a tennis court, but this match was far from that. At times, Sabalenka was very aggressive and dominant, but Li also had her moments. The American generally plays a very attacking style which can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
Sabalenka was quite motivated to forget the lousy outing at the Canadian Open, which disappointed her. This was a step in the right direction though it took her a while to really get going. The opening set was quite competitive, even though Sabalenka took the first lead.
Li would pull it back but drop her serve towards the end of the set to lose it. The second set saw Li come out strong, taking an early lead and cruising from there. What worked for her in the second set was simply playing the crucial rallies better.
Sabalenka struggled on her serve in both sets, but Li didn't really take her chances in the first while she did in the second. The final set is when Sabalenka finally settle. She jumped out to an early lead and never let go of it, finishing the match off comfortably.
This was a much better outing compared to the last time she stood on a tennis court, and it's good to see. The US Open saw her play excellent tennis last year, but she couldn't overcome Swiatek. She beat her this year, which means that she can beat her again, but she'll need to find her confidence.
Wins like this will get her there. The final score was 7-5 2-6 6-4 as she moves on to face Daria Kasatkina.
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