October 28, 2024

Open Court

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Sabalenka learning with calm, comes success (Vid)

ADELAIDE, Australia – At 24, Aryna Sabalenka is finally figuring out that with calm on court, comes success.

Actually, she surely already knew this; the rub is in the implementation. And that’s what she’s been focusing on this week in Adelaide.

It has worked well enough that the No. 2 seed is in the final, after a fairly drama-free 6-3, 6-2 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu in the semis Saturday.

Sabalenka will play up-and-coming teenager Linda Noskova in the final (not before 4 p.m. Adelaide – 12:30 a.m. ET).

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She has managed to get through some tough opponents – notably, in her season opener earlier in the week, she got through Liudmila Samsonova in two tough tiebreaks. Then she defeated lefty Marketa Vondrousova, who is just coming back from a long injury layoff but who played very well.

Serving woes create serenity – somehow

Somehow, the Belarussian has managed to find a silver lining in the excruciating struggles she had with her powerful serve in 2022.

For one thing, she learned that even without it at times, she still has other tools that will allow her to win matches. That’s what called awesome spin. But it’s also true.

Here’s what she had to say after the win over Begu.

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