Aryna Sabalenka is through to the 2024 Italian Open final, beating Danielle Collins in two sets, just like last week in Madrid.
There are many similarities between Sabalenka's Italian Open run this week and her recent run at the Madrid Open. She played fabulous tennis in Madrid, making the final, where she faced Iga Swiatek, who proved to be the better player in the final.
She's also played fabulous tennis this week, and she's going to be in the final of a WTA 1000 event once more. Much like last week, she'll face Iga Swiatek in that final.
Another connecting dot is beating Collins en route to the final because it happened both this week and in Madrid as well. This match against the American was a bit easier for the Belarusian than the one in Madrid because this was a straight-sets win.
Collins greatly benefited from the altitude in Madrid, which wasn't the case in the Italian capital. Sabalenka had more time on the ball, used it to set up properly, and demolished it in a very convincing performance.
Another problem for the Miami Open champion was not serving very well. As strong as she is in most rallies, Collins heavily relies on the serve to start the rally off well.
She didn't have it in this match, and it gave Sabalenka even more chances to unleash her power. Another thing that bothered the American was the second seed's serving, which minimized the amount of pressure she could create.
She did about as well as she could with how these two things unfolded. The first set finished 7-5 for Sabalenka, so Collins obviously hung around for a good amount.
That didn't happen in the second set, where Sabalenka jumped out to an early lead of 3-0. From there, it was a simple run to the finish line, with the final score ending up 7-5, 6-2.