Sabalenka bullies Azarenka in Ostrava to win the J&T Banka Open

Sunday, 25 October 2020 at 15:45

Aryna Sabalenka came out focused on Sunday afternoon and bulldozed her way to the Ostrava Open title by defeating Azarenka.

From the get-go, it was obvious that Aryna Sabalenka stepped onto the court with a purpose. She resolved the play aggressively which allowed her to win the match 6-2 6-2 in just over 60 minutes of play. Azarenka struggled in the first game and almost lost her serve but somehow she hung on. It didn't last long however as Sabalekna quickly found a way to break her taking the lead. She would later add on another one for the convincing 6-2 1st set victory. Azarenka struggled immensely with her serve which was very slow at times allowing Sabalenka to win many points with simple return winners. Similar problems troubled her during rallies as well as her shots were very slow and with low spin rate allowing Sabalekna to dictate points with ease and usually end them with a winner.

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A similar thing happened in the 2nd set with Azarenka looking very bad in rallies hitting balls much weaker than her opponent. She struggled to return serves as well. After three games in the set, she called a medical timeout where she consulted with a doctor for a long time before opting to receive a neck massage. Something was obviously bothering her as her body language was very negative and she looked like in a high amount of discomfort. Azarenka was also seen shaking her hands which might indicate forearm tightness as well. All those issues contributed her to go down 1-4 before calling yet another medical timeout. Ultimately she lost the set 6-2 with injury struggled deeply affecting her play.