Three of the four quarter-finals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Friday saw the eventual winners make a comeback from a set down. Only Ons Jabeur won her quarter-final match-up in straight sets. In the first match of the day, second seed Aryna Sabalenka trailed her on-court rival and off-court friend, Paula Badosa 4-6, 2-4 before turning the match around and winning it, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In the third set, it was Sabalenka’s turn to give up a 3-1 lead after being broken back. However, Badosa’s attempt at a comeback was thwarted in the end. The match lasted two hours and 30 minutes. Badosa had 10 aces across the match but she also hit nine double faults.
Sabalenka’s serve statistics were mellower with figures of just four aces, and five double faults. Following this win, the world no. 2’s now reached the semi-finals of the German event for the third year in a row.
The last two years she made it this far she also reached the final although she ended up coming second, to Ashleigh Barty and Iga Swiatek in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: A slowish start for Iga Swiatek
Speaking of Swiatek, the reigning champion also encountered problems in her quarter-final against Karolina Pliskova.
Swiatek needed a little more than two hours to finish the contest…
