Aryna Sabalenka says she expects nothing less than “a high-intensity” match when she meets Iga Swiatek today and also highlights that she absolutely doesn’t want to think that the current surface favoring her a bit more is a big advantage.
After seeing off Elina Svitolina 7-5 6-2 and also dismantling No. 10 seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-3 6-2, No. 3 seed Sabalenka is set to fight against top-seeded Swiatek for a place in the Cincinnati final. While this will be their meeting on the hard courts of Cincinnati, there are not many secrets between the two since they met 11 times in the past in various other tournaments.
Going into the match, Swiatek, 23, owns an 8-3 head-to-head against Sabalenka. However, it should be noted that five of those 11 meetings came on hard and that the 26-year-old Belarusian was able to win two of those five meetings.
“It’s always high-intensity matches. We had a lot of great battles in the past, and I’m really looking forward for another great battle against her,” Sabalenka said of facing Swiatek.
Swiatek’s statement on playing Sabalenka
Earlier this year, Swiatek edged out Sabalenka in a thriller Madrid final 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7) after saving three…
