Sabalenka Overcomes Rain Delay To Beat Kasatkina In Cincinnati
WTA
Aryna Sabalenka made a winning return to the Cincinnati Masters, and she added another victory by beating Daria Kasatkina in two sets.
The previous match she played in Cincinnati was very hard for Sabalenka as she faced a native player that made life for her challenging. Nobody expected her to struggle as much with Li but the American played well and deserves credit.
On paper, a match against Daria Kasatkina is equally tough; however, Sabalenka didn't seem to mind that much. Kasatkina doesn't have the power the Belarusian has, and the contrasting styles were evident pretty early on.
Sabalenka didn't have any problems attacking Kasatkina's first serve creating plenty of chances. She broke early but got broken in the next game. Shen simply broke her opponent once more to cruise to a 6-3 finish. The match was paused by a rain delay, but upon returning, Sabalenka didn't really have any major issues.
She broke her opponent early again, but Kasatkina pulled it back. The Russian couldn't hold her own in most rallies, but she sometimes found ways to make Sabalenka overhit. It's the best she could do, even if we saw a better plan on how to play against Sabalenka upon returning.
She had way more success in rallies and found winning points on her serve easier. While the players battled it still was pretty apparent that Sabalenka controlled the match. She was always a threat to create something out of nothing and win the match.
That something came in in the match's 7th game, which ultimately proved the decisive one in the second set. Sabalenka jumped out to a 30-0 lead and then had a 40-15. She would break in that game to take a 4-3 lead, and that was that.
The final score was 6-3 6-3 for the Belarusian, who looks more comfortable this week. She will face Ons Jabeur in the quarter-final.
