Sabalenka back to winnings ways in Berlin
The match had been suspended after the first set on Wednesday and the Belarusian was made to work hard on the resumption as the 112th-ranked Swede Masarova took her to the tiebreak.
The win takes her into the quarter-finals as she looks to build up her grass court form ahead of Wimbledon which starts in 10 days time.
The 27-year-old has won 20 titles but none of those has come on grass.
She will face either 11th-ranked Kazakh Elena Rybakina or Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova in a bid to reach the last four in Berlin for the first time in her career.
In the first match of the day, 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, currently ranked down at 164, needed two hours 20 minutes to overcome Russian 12th seed Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.
In the last eight she will face the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the woman she beat in the Wimbledon final two years ago.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Draper digs deep to reach Queen's semi-finals for first time
Draper survived a gruelling quarter-final clash lasting two hours and 24 minutes in sweltering conditions at the Wimbledon warm-up event in west London. The 23-year-old had twice lost in the last eight at Queen's, but now he is just two wins away from joining Andy Murray as only the second British champion at the tournament in the Open area. Draper will move above Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz in the world rankings next week to a career-high of four. That means at Wimbledon, which starts on June 30, the 23-year-old can avoid defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner until the semi-finals. "Last year I went there ranked 40th and now I'm fourth. To get to that position is an incredible feeling," Draper said. "It is testament to the work me and my team have done and I'm proud of that." Draper will face Jiri Lehecka in the last four on Saturday after the Czech world number 30 beat beat British number two Jacob Fearnley 7-5, 6-2. "It means the world to me, the support I've received this week has been amazing," Draper said after becoming Britain's first Queen's semi-finalist since Cameron Norrie in 2021. "At times I've not played great tennis but I've tried to believe in myself." Later in Friday's quarter-final action, French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz plays France's Arthur Arthur Rinderknech before Danish fourth seed Holger Rune faces Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Sinner says early Halle exit gives him more time to prepare for Wimbledon
The Italian defending champion went down 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Kazakh Alexander Bublik in Thursday's second round in the German grasscourt Wimbledon warm-up. "I have to accept what happened. I'm now going to have a few days rest before Wimbledon, which are going to do me good" said Sinner. He now has 10 days between Thursday's loss and the start of his Wimbledon campaign, where he seeks to dethrone Carlos Alcaraz, his conqueror in a five-set epic French Open final at Roland Garros earlier this month. Halle in 2024 is the only grass court title Sinner has to his name. He made it to the semi-finals in Wimbledon two years ago. Last year he was beaten in the quarters. "Honestly a little break is going to do me good," the 23-year-old told Sky Italia. "I came here (to Halle), I gave it my all after the Roland Garros defeat, it wasn't easy," he added. "Despite everything I'm happy enough. "I've played two matches before Wimbledon, if there'd been more it would have been even better. "Now I've got to boost myself both mentally and physically, that takes a little time," but for Wimbledon, "everything will be fine". Sinner's loss to Alcaraz at the French Open was his first defeat in a Grand Slam final. Prior to that defeat Sinner also lost to Alcaraz in the Rome Open final just after returning from a three-month doping suspension following his Australian Open success.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle second round by Bublik
The world number one fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Bublik for the 23-year-old's first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 since the summer of 2023. A few days before his defeat to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the title match at the French Open, Sinner had easily dispatched Bublik in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, dropping only six games. On Thursday, ten days before Wimbledon, Bublik claimed his second victory in six ties against Sinner. The Kazakh will play Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day. Earlier world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy's Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle. The 28-year-old German won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) against the 46th-ranked Sonego and next plays another Italian, Flavio Cobolli for a place in the semi-finals. A finalist in Halle in 2016 and 2017, Zverev recorded his fifth victory in as many meetings with Sonego, a year after beating him at the same stage of the same competition. Sonego took advantage of his only chance to break in the first set at 4-3. The German struggled throughout to break his opponent's serve. Zverev dug deep in the second set, leading 5-4, to win the set before dominating the tiebreak in the final set. Argentina's 63rd ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry also reached the quarter-finals after a three-hour duel against fourth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6). The Argentine saved two match points in the tiebreak of the deciding set to set up a meeting with Russia's Karen Khachanov. © 2025 AFP
