It started with her serve—she made 80 percent of her first serves in the second set. Then her return began to click—she broke Sabalenka for the first time with a scorching forehand return winner. Then she felt free to bring her whole repertoire out: Drop shots, slice forehands, towering lobs, backhands that hugged the sidelines and forehand angles that grew sharper with each game.
Against Swiatek and Sabalenka, Andreeva showed a knack for adjusting, for believing in her ability to use a Plan B, and for rising to her opponent’s level.
“The whole match I felt super nervous,” she said of her 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Sabalenka. “After the first set, I just realized, that, ‘Oh, well, what I do now, it doesn’t work, so I have to change something.’
“In the second set, I tried to play a little bit more aggressive. I didn’t try to overhit her, because I don’t think anyone can overhit Aryna, because she’s super-powerful player. I tried to really create something to make her uncomfortable, and point by point, game by game, I managed to do that.”
