Sabalenka Is Thrice A Stuttgart Semifinalist After Beating Friend And Foe Badosa

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (photo: Porsche AG)

STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 21, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

Aryna Sabalenka has reached the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semifinals for the third straight year. This time, like last year, she beat a familiar opponent to reach that plateau. However, advancing to the final four in 2023 has been anything but easy.

Sabalenka, the World No. 2 and second seed from Belarus, rallied from a set and a break down to defeat 31st-ranked Spanish wild card Paula Badosa, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and reach the Stuttgart semifinals.

“It was absolutely crazy,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview following her triumph. “She played unbelievable tennis today. I just tried to keep fighting, keep trying to find my game. She’s a great player and Im sure very soon she’ll be back in the Top 10.”

Friday’s opening quarterfinal in Porsche Arena took two hours and 30 minutes to decide the outcome and it reprised Sabalenka’s 7-6 (5), 6-4 defeat of Badosa in last year’s last eight. It evened her head-to-head with Badosa, one of her best friends on the WTA Tour, at 2-all. The final set featured six deuce games and five breaks of serve. Finally, Sabalenka won on her second match point with a backhand into the open court for her 40th winner.

“There were some moments on court where I was about to scream ‘come on!’ then I was like ‘I don’t know, should I or not. She’s my friend, she’ll be thinking I’m stupid,’” admitted Sabalenka, holding back laughter in her voice.

The win advanced Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion, into her fourth semifinal in six tournaments this season and improved her overall 2023 win-loss record to 22-3. Next, she will face No. 24 Anastasia Potapova of Russia, who surprised World No. 5 and fourth seed Caroline Garcia of France, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to reach her first WTA 500 semifinal after having never gone beyond the quarterfinals at the WTA 500 level. Her two-hour, 12-minute win improved her record against the Frenchwoman to 2-1.

”Today I didn’t play my best in the first set or in the second set either,” Potapova explained in her on-court interview. “But I’m very happy in the third set I found a way. I was just fighting through every point. I found my tennis and started to play better.”

Meanwhile, Sabalenka is seeking her first Stuttgart title after two consecutive runner-up showings — in 2021 to Ashleigh Barty and last year to Iga Swiatek. Both were ranked No. 1 at the time. The champion of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix wins not only prize money but also  a Porsche sports car, something not lost on Sabalenka.

“I’m just trying to focus on my game and don’t think about the car and hopefully I can get it from the third try,” she said.

Jabeur brings her “A” game against Haddad Maia

World No. 4 and third set Ons Jabeur of Tunisia lost just three games during her quarterfinal round match against No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. After losing two games early in the opening set, Jabeur came on strong and won the final seven games of her 68-minute match to advance to Saturday’s semifinals against defending champion Iga Swiatek.

The World No. 1 and top seed from Poland rallied from a shaky start against 2018 titlist Karolina Pliskova and defeated the 17th-ranked Czech star, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, in two hours and a minute to wrap up play Friday evening inside Porsche Arena.

Against the crafty left-handed Haddad Maia, Jabeur broke the Brazilian four times. In her on-court interview afterward, the Minister of Happiness rated her performance an A-plus. It was her 30th career win over a Top 20 player.

“I don’t think my coach could tell me anything for today,” Jabeur said. “She’s an amazing player, but I think I really played my ‘A’ game today. I’m very happy with the way I played, especially in the second set, very relaxed and making the right choices.”

The victory, which was Jabeur’s seventh straight – six of them in straight sets – advanced the Tunisian to her third semifinal of the season, and second on clay this season in following her title success earlier this month in Charleston. It’s her first time to make it to the final four in Stuttgart after having lost in the quarterfinals last year.

Meanwhile, Swiatek made her return to the Stuttgart semifinals by coming back from a set down against Pliskova. It was quite the contrast to the last time the two met, in the 2021 Rome final, which Swiatek won 6-0, 6-0.

After losing the opening set, Swiatek raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set and never really was in danger again. Her victory sets up a sixth meeting with Jabeur, in which she leads their career head-to-head 3-2. Last year, Swiatek beat Jabeur in the title matches at both Rome and the US Open. She is looking to become the first player since Angelique Kerber won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 to defend her title successfully in Stuttgart.

“I’m pretty proud of how I came back, because that was like pretty important moment,” Swiatek said during her post-match press conference. “I’m happy that even though I started pretty badly, I could reset a little bit and just start over in second set.

“In third, I felt like I can play better and better. So I’m pretty happy.

“But for sure she used her experience to get the advantage and these breaks in first games, so on next match for sure I’m going to have to be more ready.”

Raducanu visits Porsche Motorsport

Former major champion Emma Raducanu may have bowed early in this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, losing in the opening round to Jelena Ostapenko, but the Porsche Brand Ambassador got her wish to visit Porsche development Center in Weissach, something which has long been on her wish list.

“The experience at Porsche was pretty fun. Getting a tour around the Development Center has been really interesting,” said Raducanu, who is a huge car and motorsports fan. By all accounts, she was visibly thrilled by the guided tour she received around the headquarters of Porsche motorsports.

While the 20-year-old Briton had already gained her first race circuit experiences at Silverstone alongside former Endurance World Champion Mark Webber and at Brands Hatch together with the Porsche Carrera Cup driver Adam Smalley, this time she got to see firsthand the motorsports workshop and the development department for GT road vehicles as well as to try her hand on the test track where rollouts with the Porsche GT3 R were taking plac

“For me to get in the simulator was such an experience,” Raducanu said. “I honestly couldn’t believe how different it was to being in a regular car on the track. I do have a lot of respect of drivers to get in the simulator and take it naturally and easy. Pascal gave me a great inside on what it’s like being in Formula E. As a race driver, he probably travels the same as we tennis players do. It was just nice speaking to someone who kind of relates to a similar situation as me.”

Friday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results

Saturday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play

By the numbers

Anastasia Potapova’s upset of World No. 5 Caroline Garcia on Friday was the third Top-5 win of her career. It followed her triumphs over Angelique Kerber at Roland Garros in 2019 and Anett Kontaveit at Prague in 2022.

“Quotable …”

“Aryna is my good friend, I think it’s going to be fun. I’ve been waiting for this match, I’ve really wanted to play against you Aryna. I don’t know if you’re watching.”

– Anastasia Potapova of Russia, in her on-court interview after her quarterfinal upset of World No. 5 Caroline Garcia of France on Friday.

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