A ninth ace and it was over. Even if she had been in difficulty with her first ball on this last game, Aryna Sabalenka had qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati by dismissing Ons Jabeur. The first set had been a real battle with no less than 11 break points (6 for Sabalenka, 5 for Jabeur), but the continuous risk-taking of the Belarusian had ended up getting the better of Jabeur’s changes of pace.
The Tunisian thought perhaps she had done the hardest part by breaking in the first game of the second set, just to get back into the fight. Alas, she could not manage to maintain her advantage. Too inconstant, she offered herself to her opponent’s striking power without seeing how to change anything. The distress that showed on his face in the last game testified to his helplessness.
Rybakina will play his third WTA 1000 semi-final of the season on Saturday after Indian Wells and Madrid. She had each time been opposed to Maria Sakkari. In Ohio, a casting change with Karolina Muchova on the other side of the net.
