Porsche Grand Prix LIVE: No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka made a triumphant return to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final with a 7-6(5), 6-4 semifinal win over No.2 seed Paula Badosa in Stuttgart on Saturday. Follow InsideSport.IN for more updates.
Back to back finals for @SabalenkaA! She takes out second seed Paula Badosa 7-6(5), 6-4. #porschetennis #PTGP22 pic.twitter.com/zEnYsFM0GH
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 23, 2022
Sabalenka, who finished as runner-up to Ashleigh Barty last season, moved back into the championship match after a 1-hour and 40-minute victory over her Stuttgart doubles partner Badosa.
Sabalenka will take on World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the final on Sunday. Swiatek survived a 3-hour marathon against Liudmila Samsonova to win her 22nd straight match and reach the Stuttgart final in her tournament debut.
“In the beginning, I couldn’t find my rhythm, and then there was like nothing to lose,” Sabalenka said afterward. “She was up with a break. I kind of told myself in that game, ‘You have to work through it, you have to run and get everything you can, and just put her under pressure in that game.’ I did it well and I broke her back.”
By continuing her strong week, Sabalenka extends her upswing in results. Sabalenka, who was already in her first semifinal since last year’s US Open, is now into her first final since last year’s Mutua Madrid Open nearly a full year ago.
Porsche Grand Prix LIVE : Aryna Sabalenka defeats Paula Badosa to set up summit clash with Iga Swiatek at Stuttgart