Cincinnati: Caroline Garcia of France has become the first qualifier to reach a WTA 1000 tournament final after continuing her dream run at the Western &amp; Southern Open with a hard-fought win over sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. In a match halted twice for extended periods by rain on Saturday evening, Garcia triumphed 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinal that lasted two hours and five minutes, reports DPA. Garcia's victory over Sabalenka secured her spot in the decider against Petra Kvitova, who beat Madison Keys in the other semifinal earlier on Saturday.
The victory also adds another top-10 scalp to Garcia's list from this week's Cincinnati event, having knocked out fourth seed Maria Sakkari and seventh seed Jessica Pegula en route to the final four. The world number 35 had also beaten top-ranked Iga Swiatek during a run to the Poland Open title three weeks ago. Garcia has a Tour-leading 26 main-draw victories since June with title wins in Bad Homburg and Warsaw in that stretch; next most match wins in that stretch is Simona Halep (19) and Beatriz Haddad Maia (17).
Saturday's win was fuelled by a strong first-serve points won percentage of 81.3 per cent for Garcia, sending down 8-4 aces while Sabalenka was not helped by 7-1 double faults. The 28-year-old, whose highest rank was fourth in 2018, saved seven break points while converting six of the 13 she generated. She had to come through qualifying to earn a place in the Cincinnati main draw and looked like racing past Sabalenka after taking the opening set in impression fashion.
A two-and-a-half-hour rain delay halted Garcia's progress at 1-1 in the second set, and it was Sabalenka who returned the strongest from the break. Garcia needed her left arm bandaging when trailing 5-4 in the second set, forcing Sabalenka to endure a long wait to serve to level the match. Just as the match looked to be tilting the Belarusian's way, an improved Garcia broke to lead 3-1 in the deciding set; however, rain returned in the next game with Garcia 30-15 up on serve, causing another hold-up.
But Garcia would not be denied after play resumed approximately 90 minutes later, winning the final three games to secure an historic place in the decider. In the earlier match, Kvitova fended off home favourite Keys to secure a return to the world's top 20. The two-time Wimbledon champion battled to a 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-3 victory in two hours and 18 minutes.
—IANS

Caroline Garcia of France has become the first qualifier to reach a WTA 1000 tournament final after continuing her dream run at the Western & Southern Open with a hard-fought win over sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

 Garcia topples Sabalenka to continue dream Cincinnati run to final

Paris: Unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic caused the first upset in the women's singles draw by beating eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece in the first round even as top contenders Aryna Sabalenka and Stefanos Tsitsipas negotiated their first round challenges in contrasting styles at the French Open on Sunday.
While Muchova got the better of Sakkari, women's No.2 seed Sabalenka got her Roland Garros campaign off to a winning start, coming from an early break down to defeat Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 11 minutes. In the men's singles first round, Sakkari's compatriot Tsitsipas passed a stern first-round test on Sunday at Roland Garros, where the fifth seed overcame Jiri Vesely 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7) at the clay-court major.
Sakkari was the first seed to fall by the wayside in singles, losing to Muchova in a rematch of las' year's second-round battle -- one of the most anticipated clashes on the opening day in Paris.
Sakkari herself had promoted the tussle on Saturday by calling the crafty 26-year-old "probably the toughest unseeded player that anyone could have in the first round".
In the end, it was d?j? vu for Muchova, who edged past the No.8 seed for a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory on a sunny afternoon in Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Things were easier for Australian Open champion Sabalenka, who has the opportunity to capture the World No.1 ranking for the first time by winning the title this fortnight. Roland Garros is the only major at which the 25-year-old has yet to go past the third round, but she bolstered her clay-court credentials with a second Madrid title three weeks ago.
This result extends Sabalenka's 2023 record to 30-5. She has reached at least the quarterfinals at seven of the eight tournaments she has contested before Roland Garros, and the final at five of them.
Sabalenka will next face qualifier Iryna Shymanovich, who celebrated her Grand Slam main-draw debut with a 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1 win over Panna Udvardy.
In other women's singles matches, Camila Giorgi of Italy made a winning start, beating Aliz? Cornet of France 6-3, 6-4; Clara Tauson of Denmark defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 6-0; Anastasia Potapova beat Taylor Townsend of the United States 6-1, 6-2, China's Qinwen Zheng beat Tamara Zidan?ek of Slovenia 6-3, 6-1 while Leylah Annie Fernandez got the better of Magda Linette 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Tsitsipas is also eying the World No.1 ranking on the men's side but had to pass a stern test against Czech Republic's Vesely, who took him to four sets and held four set points in the fourth.
Tsitsipas, hoping to improve on his appearance in the final two years ago, arrived at Roland-Garros without a clay-court trophy this year. Despite reaching his second major final at the Australian Open in January, two-time Monte-Carlo Masters champion Tsitsipas arrived here with his standout result on the red dirt in recent years being a runner-up showing to Carlos Alcaraz in Barcelona.
Vesely was in control of the opening set when he served for it at 5-4 only to turn in his first rusty game of the match. It ended up costing him the set and before he knew it, Tsitsipas had opened up a two-set advantage on an ace.
Vesely landed his first break since the opening set at the most opportune of moments, breaking to take the third set and threatening to take the contest into the deciding fifth set when he held four set points in the ensuing tiebreak.
The Greek star held his ground and closed out the three-hour, 16-minute encounter with a forehand winner in the tie-break.
In other first-round matches in men's singles, 24th seed Sebastian Korda of the United States defeated compatriot Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 7-5, 6-4; Nuno Borges of Portugal ousted American big-server John Isner 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(9) in a five-set thriller; Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Dan Evans of Great Britain in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 while 11th seed Karen Khachanov came back from two sets down to overcame Constant Lestienne of France, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.—IANS

Unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic caused the first upset in the women's singles draw by beating eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari 

French Open: Muchova Knocks Out Sakkari; Easy Start For Sabalenka; Tough Test For Tsitsipas

New York: For the second time in her career, American teen sensation Coco Gauff will play in a Grand Slam final after a straight-sets win against Karolina Muchova at the US Open.
Extending her exceptional summer run, Gauff defeated Muchova 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday night to earn her first trip to the women's singles final at the Flushing Meadows.&nbsp;
The sixth-seeded Gauff has won 11 straight matches, the best streak of her career, and 17 of 18, a stretch that includes titles in Washington D.C. and Cincinnati.
Gauff is the youngest of the four semifinalists here -- by nearly six years. The 19-year-old, is also the youngest American women's player to appear in the final of the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999.
She’s looking to become the fourth American woman to win the Open this century after Serena, her sister Venus and Sloane Stephens.
Moreover, Gauff is the youngest woman to appear in multiple Grand Slam finals (including 2020 Roland Garros) since Maria Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon and 2006 US Open) and the youngest American woman to do it since Monica Seles, from1990-93.
In the Saturday's final, Gauff will meet No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, who narrowly escaped No.17 Madison Keys in a third-set tiebreak in the second match of the night.
Sabalenka, the WTA No. 1 in-waiting, emerged 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5) from a back-and-forth semifinal against Keys to advance to her first US Open final.
The 25-year-old Belarusian hadn't dropped a set en route to the semifinals, and had only lost 21 games in 10 sets played, but was put on the back foot early by a dazzling performance from Keys in the opening set.
Officially rising to the top of the rankings after the US Open, Sabalenka continues a breakthrough season at the majors with her second Slam final this year. She is also the first player to reach the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events in a single year since Serena did so in 2016.
The post-midnight victory marks Sabalenka’s 50th match-win of the year. It is the first time in her career that Sabalenka has hit that total number of tour-level wins in a single season.&nbsp;
—IANS

For the second time in her career, American teen sensation Coco Gauff will play in a Grand Slam final after a straight-sets win against Karolina Muchova

US Open: Gauff holds off Muchova; Sabalenka outlasts Keys to reach final

Brisbane: World no.2 Aryna Sabalenka triumphed over Lucia Bronzetti from Italy in the second round of the Brisbane International, clinching the match in a mere 58 minutes with a commanding scoreline of 6-3, 6-0.  Sabalenka's victorious Brisbane debut extended her Australian winning streak to 12. Last year, the 25-year-old went undefeated to sweep the titles in Adelaide and the Australian Open, where she captured her first major title.  "I'm super happy to play in front of fans here in Australia. They're amazing. I'm not focusing on the record I'm making right now. I'm just focusing on myself and bringing my best tennis in every match I play," Sabalenka was quoted by WTA.
 Also Read: <a href="https://www.thehawk.in/posts/brisbane-international:-pliskova-thwarts-osaka's-comeback-in-second-round-clash" target="_self">https://www.thehawk.in/posts/brisbane-international:-pliskova-thwarts-osaka's-comeback-in-second-round-clash</a>  Facing the 52nd-ranked Bronzetti in her first match of the season, Sabalenka broke open the match with a break to 4-2 in the opening set. She proceeded to win 8 of the next nine games, overpowering Bronzetti to lay down a marker on her season.  She fired eight aces in the match and saved the one break point she faced.  Sabalenka will face either Danielle Collins or Zhu Lin next.
—IANS

World no.2 Aryna Sabalenka triumphed over Lucia Bronzetti from Italy in the second round of the Brisbane International

Brisbane International: Sabalenka beats Bronzetti, races to Round of 16

Melbourne: In an exhilarating match the talented tennis player Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus emerged victorious over Zheng Qinwen of China to secure the womens singles championship at the Australian Open. This outstanding accomplishment by Sabalenka marks her triumph in this prestigious tournament.  During the final Sabalenka displayed her dominance on the court as she defeated Qinwen in sets with a score of 6 3 6 2. With this performance she solidified her place on the esteemed Australian Open trophy for the second year running. The impressive nature of Sabalenkas win highlights her skill and unwavering determination, in tennis.

Aryna Sabalenka triumphs at Australian Open, securing back-to-back titles with a dominant win over Zheng Qinwen.

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Garcia topples Sabalenka to continue dream Cincinnati run to final

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Garcia topples Sabalenka to continue dream Cincinnati run to final

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