Aryna Sabalenka comes back to win against Anisimova in Rome, moves to semifinals

Aryna Sabalenka lost all four previous meetings against Anisimova including two this year but the Belarussian was able to overcome losing the opening set to come back and win 4-6 6-3 6-2.

Sabalenka and Anisimova played two times on clay this year and each time it was Anisimova who got the win. One was on green clay, the other on red clay but Anisimova pulled through in three sets in both matches. This one went to 3 sets as well but it was Sabalenka who got the win. She's been playing excellent tennis all week long, much improved compared to Madrid last week.

Anisimova did as well and the exciting first set saw quite a few twists and turns. The American jumped ahead with a 2-0 lead. She gave it back to make it 2-2 but broke her opponent again for the 3-2 lead. She lost her serve again to give Sabalenka the 4-3 lead but then went on a 3-0 run to close out the first 6-4. Less than ideal serving gave both too many chances on the 2nd serve resulting in many breaks.

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The 2nd set was played much better by Sabalenka who was the more dominant and consistent player from the baseline. She was much more solid on serve and superb on return breaking Anisimova twice for the 6-3 2nd set finish. The final set continued good play from Sabalenka who jumped out to a 4-1 double break lead. She finished it off with 6-2.