Aryna Sabalenka got sucked into what she described as “a nightmare” on Saturday but the Belarusian was thankful to emerge unscathed as she kept alive her Wimbledon dream with a 6-2, 6-3 third round victory against Russian Anna Blinkova on Saturday.
A day after the Belarusian was left screaming in frustration as little-known Varvara Gracheva threatened to trample her Wimbledon aspirations, the Australian Open champion was back to her sublime ball-striking best as she extended her record over Blinkova to 3-0.
In a match between two players who were both barred from competing at the All England Club last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sabalenka made her experience count against an opponent who has never reached the fourth round of a major.
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The second seed broke Blinkova three times to take the first set and when she pinned back the Russian with some thunderous returns to take a 4-2 lead in the second, the world number 40 was left shaking her head in resignation.
If Sabalenka thought Blinkova was holding up the white flag, she was sorely mistaken because in the very next game Blinkova gave the second seed the run around for over 14 minutes.
In a nerve-shredding game featuring eight deuces, four break points for Blinkova, aces and double faults, Sabalenka hung tough despite all the drama to emerge unscathed for a 5-2 lead.
“It was like a nightmare, it was a tough game. Somehow I managed to finish that game with a win, but it was crazy and I was super happy to handle myself in that situation,” a smiling Sabalenka told the crowd in a courtside interview.
Two games later a searing ace, her ninth of the day, sealed victory and a clash with another Russian, 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
As for her assessment on Saturday’s performance, Sabalenka said: “It was definitely better tennis than yesterday.
“It was a tough game, she played really well. I am super happy I was able to win it.”
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