During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, Aryna Sabalenka dominated Qinwen Zheng and qualified for the semi-finals of the Miami WTA 1000. In the next round, the Belarusian will face Jasmine Paolini.
After a slightly more complicated period after his defeat in the Australian Open final (early eliminations in Doha then Dubai), Aryna Sabalenka found a smile during this tour in the United States. Indeed, a finalist at Indian Wells, the Belarusian will be at least in the semi-finals in Miami. Opposed last night to Qinwen Zheng, the world number 1 has imposed itself in two sets (6-2, 7-5) and 1h37 of play.
After a small fright at the start of the first round (she had to save three break balls at 0-1), the native of Minsk rushed later by pocketing four following games to go from 2-2 to 6-2 in an authoritarian manner. In the 2nd set, marked by seven breaks, Sabalenka accelerated at the right time by taking the Chinese service at 5-5 one last time. Behind, with a white game, the Belarusian validated her ticket for the semi-finals in Florida, which will be a first for her.
Paolini will have a strong at Mace in Sabalenka
A little earlier, Jasmine Paolini had qualified for the last square of Miami WTA 1000 by eliminating Magda Linette in two rounds (6-3, 6-2) and 1h18 of play. Breakée from entry of the match, the Italian then managed to reverse the trend in the wake and then taking the service of the Polish to 2-1. Behind, the world 7th has assured and logically pocketed this 1st set, with a white game to finish. Subsequently, Paolini pushed the nail by detaching himself from the 2nd round entrance. A new break acquired at 3-1 allowed the Italian to fly to victory, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
As with Sabalenka, his next opponent, it will be the first time that the finalist at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon last year reached the semi-finals in Florida. As a reminder, in the last two quarter -finals, Jessica Pegula will be opposed to Emma Raducanu and Iga Swiatek will challenge the surprising Alexandra Eala.
