Aryna Sabalenka made her start on grass with a very impressive showing taking down Vera Zvonareva at the 2023 Berlin Open.
It's been a while since we last saw Sabalenka on a tennis court. The Belarusian last played at Roland Garros where she choked a lead in the final set sending Muchova to her maiden grand slam final. A return to grass is something Sabalenka was looking forward her due to her previous experiences on the surface.
She stood in the Wimbledon semi-final in 2021 but couldn't play last year due to the ban. This year she'll be making a return to Wimbledon after the ban was lifted. She had some minor trouble with her visa but that too has been resolved.
This match was one where she was heavily favoured as both the better player and the much younger player. Zvonareva has been a very solid player in recent years though her peak years in singles are long gone. Most of her recent success came in doubles and this quick loss to Sabalenka didn't really surprise anyone.
Sabalenka cruised for the most part in the first few games finally breaking her opponent in the sixth game of the set. It was the second batch of break points she had as she missed out on the first one. From there it was rather smooth sailing towards a 6-3 finish.
The second set opened with an early break for Sabalenka and she kept the high level in the next few games. Zvonareva managed to win a few games but eventually surrendered her serve once more to lose the second set 2-6.
A really strong effort from Sabalenka getting the 6-3 6-2 win. She had 5 aces and lost only 3 points behind her first serve and 8 on serve total. She dominated on her return as well winning 10 of 14 points when Zvonareva missed her first serve.
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