Aryna Sabalenka had a minor blip in her third-round match against Camila Osorio at the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday. The second seed, however, eventually prevailed 6-4, 7-5 after an hour and 57 minutes to carry on ahead in the draw.
In the second set, in the 10th game, Sabalenka served for the match but was broken by her Colombian opponent without even once reaching match point. A break on Osorio’s serve in the 11th game gave the 2023 Australian Open winner a second chance at serving out the match.
This time around Sabalenka made no mistakes and converted the first of her three match points. Sabalenka won 61% of her first-serve points to Osorio’s 54% and 53% of her second-serve points. She also won 52% points on return on Osorio’s second serve.
Sabalenka had 12 break-point chances come her way of which she converted five. For the match, Sabalenka won 80 points to Osorio’s 72. The world no. 2 will play either in-form teen Mirra Andreeva or 17th seed Magda Linette next.
Mutua Madrid Open: Liudmila Samsonova’s breezy path into R16
Jelena Ostapenko had won her opener against Linda Fruhvirtova in a dominant manner. In her third-round clash against 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova, the Latvian 19th seed had no answers.
Samsonova routed the past French Open champion 6-2, 6-0 in…
