The Times of India at Roland Garros: The only thing louder than Aryna Sabalenka’s grunt – “aaahhhhrrrrrhhhhaaaa” – that rises in decibels with the velocity of her shot, is her explosive game.
The 5 ft 11’ Belarusian, arguably the most powerful player the women’s game has ever known, produced an exhibition of all things bold and beautiful against Qinwen Zheng in the French Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. The 27-year-old World No.1’s 7-6 (3), 6-3 win against the eighth-seeded Chinese took her to her second semifinal at Roland Garros.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Qinwen, the stylish 22-year-old, ran Sabalenka close in the opening set, breaking early and taking a breezy lead, but the top-seed came back swinging, the acoustics dizzying, as she levelled at 4-4. In the tie-break, Sabalenka won five of the last six points, dictating play with the might of her shot making.
The Chinese pro, who left the court after the first set, tried to change the pace of play in the second. Her shots still flat and without shape, however, played into the world No.1’s hands.
Qinwen went up 0-30 on Sabalenka’s serve in the second game and perhaps sighted an opening, but when the Belarusian claimed the next four points and levelled at 1-1 in the second set, Qinwen looked up at her box and let the frustration show.
Sabalenka struck on the second opportunity in the fifth game of the second set, clocking a two-hander down the line to seal the break. Qinwin hit right back, with winners off both flanks in the next game. Sabalenka pushed the repeat button in the seventh game and then held serve to take a 5-3 lead before pulling off another break in the ninth game to close the match.
Sabalenka, who has played 473 matches in her career, said she has never faced an opponent with a game more powerful than hers on a tennis court.
“I don’t care if the player is going to go out there and try to overhit me or if they try to change the rhythm and make me move and run,” she said, adding, “Over the years my game has evolved, I’m ready to play against whoever is going to make me run and work for the point. But when it comes to power, I like it, because then it is, okay, you want to see the power? Let me show you something.”
Sabalenka was reminded of her only meeting with the legendary Serena Williams four years ago in Melbourne Park, the American coming through in three sets. After the match, Williams said, “If she wants to play power, let’s go.”
Sabalenka found Williams’ observation interesting. “I think that she wasn’t more powerful than (me), physically she was better than me (in that match), and she put more balls back on my side than I did (on her side),” she said of the round-of-16 clash. “I didn’t feel that she overpowered me in that game.”
Sabalenka has over the years used the dimensions of the court well, using underspin to get back into the point and also throwing in drop shots against opponents who retreat to play her power. “The drop shot is something we’ve been working on over the last couple of years,” she said. “But I’m going to play with my power, because that is something I feel the most comfortable with.”
In Thursday’s semifinals, the Belarusian will play four-time champion, Iga Swiatek, the world No. 5, who put out Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5.
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