Aryna Sabalenka stared at a real setback in Berlin and still walked away with the next round. The world No. 1 and top-seeded Belarusian rallied past Nikola Bartunkova 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 on Friday to reach the Berlin Tennis Open semifinals for the second straight year.
That result matters now because it puts Sabalenka back into the last four at a tournament where every match has looked tight, and it sends her into a semifinal against Jessica Pegula after Pegula beat Madison Keys 7-6, 7-6. Sabalenka and Pegula now meet for a spot in Sunday’s final, with the winner taking a step closer to the title in Berlin.
The numbers explain why this match had so much swing. Sabalenka lost 10 of the first 12 games and spent stretches chasing Bartunkova from behind, but she saved 11 of 17 break points in a two hour, 23-minute battle. She hit 10 aces, committed eight double faults and still found a way to close it out on her third match point, finishing on a three-game run.
That escape came after Sabalenka was a set and a double-break down early, a position that would normally flatten most players and one that briefly gave Bartunkova control. Instead, the Belarusian kept cutting into the gap, went up a break twice in the final set, then had to recover again when Bartunkova fought back to lead 4-3. By the end, Sabalenka was not overpowering the match so much as surviving it point by point.
She said the rally changed how she saw the contest. “I was thinking ‘Whoa, that’s how it feels to play against me,’” Sabalenka said, adding that there was “a little bit of frustration going on” because “any ball I would give to her she would smack it with the winners.” Her answer was simple enough and, on this afternoon, good enough: “stay aggressive, trust my shots, to go after my shots.”
What comes next is straightforward and not easy. Pegula arrives off a straight-sets win of her own and a match in which she saved five of seven break points, so Sabalenka will not get a softer test after surviving Bartunkova. If the comeback in Berlin means anything beyond one afternoon, it is that Sabalenka can still win when the match turns against her early — and she will need that same edge again to keep going.
