Sabalenka advances to Beijing quarterfinals with 15th consecutive win | Sports

BEIJING — World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka superior to her tenth consecutive Hologic WTA Tour quarterfinal on Wednesday after defeating 18th seed Madison Keys 6-4, 6-3 within the China Open Round of 16. 

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

The reigning US Open champion, Sabalenka has not misplaced for the reason that Toronto quarterfinals in August, compiling a personal-best 15-match win streak. She additionally gained 15 consecutive matches from 2020 Ostrava by way of 2021 Dubai, a stretch which noticed her seize her first Grand Slam title on the 2021 Australian Open.

She has gained 30 of 31 units over the present span, dropping a set solely to Ekaterina Alexandrova within the third spherical of the US Open. 

Sabalenka is into her third consecutive Beijing quarterfinal and is bidding to make her first semifinal within the Chinese capital. She will face both US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova or Spain's Cristina Bucsa. 

Sabalenka improved to 4-1 in opposition to Keys with a assured serving efficiency that efficiently subtle the American's baseline risk. Sabalenka served at 72 p.c and gained 84 p.c of her first-serve factors, shedding simply 5 within the match. Her excessive proportion and conversion price resulted in an ideal day on the line, the place she saved each break factors she confronted to go unbroken within the match. 

Keys performed a clear match however her incapacity to break by way of Sabalenka's service factors meant for a brief day. Keys completed with 22 winners to simply 10 unforced errors however transformed her first-serve level simply 56 p.c of the time. Sabalenka struck 14 winners to simply eight unforced errors. 

Sabalenka's run of 10 consecutive quarterfinals is additional proof of her exceptional consistency this season. In the previous 15 years, solely present No.1 Iga Swiatek, who made 12 straight quarterfinals final yr, has compiled an extended streak. Sabalenka credit a calmer mindset on the court docket for her capacity to confidently navigate her matches with a transparent thoughts.

“But also in the past I had a lot of difficult things to face,” Sabalenka stated. “After you face sure issues, you understand it is simply sport. OK, should you're not going to win this match, what occurs? Nobody going to die. You're not going to die. It's OK. You're going to go in one other event and you are going to strive your finest within the subsequent one.

“Before it felt like if I'm not going to win this match, one thing dangerous goes to occur. I'm going to die, no matter. But these sorts of ideas create all of that strain, all of that frustration, all of that loopy stuff. Nowadays I'm simply working onerous, I'm making an attempt to enhance myself on daily basis. Every time I'm on the court docket, I'm making an attempt to give my finest.

“If you give your best and you didn't win the match, okay. You learn and you try better next time.”

Sabalenka's consistency has put her ready to chase down the No.1 rating over the ultimate weeks of the season, which is able to embrace the ultimate WTA 1000 of the season subsequent week on the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open and the season-ending championships on the WTA Finals Riyadh.