Sabalenka and Paolini roll into semis

By Harvey Fialkov

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The stars seem aligned for top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka as she keeps facing opponents she’s never lost to.

In her fourth-round match on Monday the sturdy Belarusian kayoed defending champion Danielle Collins to improve to 7-0 against the feisty St. Petersburg product.

In Tuesday evening’s quarterfinal against ninth-seeded Qinwen Zheng, she had trouble with her serve in the second set before storming back for a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the 22-year-old Chinese woman, who’s 0-6 against the three-time Grand Slam singles champion and 1-8 versus world No. 1s.

Storming back is fitting as the afternoon matches were delayed for nearly four hours due to lightning and rain in South Florida. It was also a perfect day for a player named Storm Hunter to play her doubles match, although she and her partner Caroline Dolehide lost 7-5, 6-2 to the top-seeded duo of Katarina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend, who have won two majors together.

However, it didn’t alter Sabalenka’s preparation because she was scheduled for the first evening match, so she just chilled at her adopted home in Miami where she loves doing laundry and eating at her favorite places. However, no sugar or junk food during a tournament but once it’s done, she loves, “cheap meal,’’ like her favorite Five Guys.

Sabalenka, 26, didn’t hold serve in the second set until the eighth game and then achieved the critical break at 5-5 when she followed Zheng’s drop shot with one of her own and then slammed Zheng’s return into the open court for a 6-5 lead. She then served out the match at love, crushing backhand howitzers on the last two points.

Sabalenka dropped from 87 percent first serves in the opening set to just 57.6 percent in the second.

“I’m very happy at the level I played in the first set,’’ said Sabalenka, who has reached her 18^th Masters 1000 semifinal but first in Miami in her seventh attempt. “In the second set I think we couldn’t adjust to the balls for some reason, maybe because it was a late match, the balls were getting really heavy and bigger which is why we both struggled on our serves [seven service breaks].

“I’m happy with the way I handled my emotions and even though my serve didn’t work I was still in there fighting for every point and I’m very proud of that.”

Of their six matches, Zheng only has won one set and Sabalenka’s record against Chinese players is 20-2

“I’m more experienced and I know how to play against her,’’ said Sabalenka, who has won 18 WTA titles with 16 coming on a hard court. “When you lead with this score against someone, I think it becomes mental. It’s always tough and never easy against her. It’s not like I go in there and I’m 100 percent sure this one I got it. That’s not how it works in sport. I’m competing and bringing my best tennis and my best high spirit. It’s kind of going my way.”

It may be tougher against her semifinal opponent, Jasmine Paolini, the sixth-seeded, petite Italian backboard, who cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over 33-year-old, 34^th-ranked Pole Magda Linette for her first semifinal of the year and first semi in her fourth Miami appearance.

Sabalenka is 3-2 against the 29-year-old late-blooming Paolini, who is the first Italian woman to make it to a Miami semifinal. She’s coming off a career-changing 2024 in which she won the Dubai Masters and reached the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

“Both are tough opponents to play against,’’ said Paolini, who spoke to the media before the Sabalenka-Zheng match. “But we are in the semifinals, so it’s nice to play those kind of matches. I feel lucky.”

While Sabalenka struggled to hold serve Tuesday, Paolini is saving break points like she’s saving money. She saved 12-of-15 break points in her fourth-round victory over former No. 1 Naomi Osaka and 7-of-8 against Linette.

“Sometimes I was 30-love up, and then I was 30-40 down,’’ said Paolini, who has lost the last two meetings with Sabalenka in straight sets at the 2024 WTA Finals and the 2023 China Open Masters 1000. “I’m just trying to try to save the break points. It’s really important on that fast court and I’m trying to serve better on the important points, but sometimes I have to be more consistent when I’m up on the serve.”

Sabalenka is expecting a tough tussle with the bubbly Italian.

“On my day off I’ll work on some stuff that didn’t work today and also adjust my game for Jasmine,’’ she said. “Once again, another great player. We had a lot of great matches in the past and it’s going to be a great battle. … I’ll make sure I bring my best tennis for the next one.”