Ekaterina Alexandrova demolishes Aryna Sabalenka to win her second WTA title at the Libema Open 2022

Ekaterina Alexandrova

Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win her second WTA singles title. Alexandrova beat Sabalenka 7-5, 6-0 as she was crowned the Libema Open 2022 champion in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. It was a very tightly contested match between the two players who are banned from the Wimbledon. The first set was a very topsy turvy affair with Sabalenka breaking Alexandrova’s serve to take the lead. But Alexandrova responded by an immediate break and finally sealed the set 7-5.

After the loss in the first set, Sabalenka was out of sorts and the first seed at ‘s-Hertogenbosch got broken twice in her second set and went on to lose the game. Alexandrova was stellar with her returns and she kept an iron grip over her lead and her strong serves helped her close out the match without any trouble. Though she played a nearly flawless game, it was again Sabalenka’s mental collapse that led her to get completely blown away in the second set.

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Ekaterina Alexandrova moves towards her highest singles ranking.

Ekaterina Alexandrova is ranked number 30 in the world and this title victory in the Netherlands took her to number 27 and she has also leaped to number 16 in the race towards the WTA Tour finals. Ekaterina held her own after being down 2-4 in the first set, it looked like the top seed will fly away with the set, but Ekaterina’s defenses caused Sabalenka to throw the game away as she lost the first set 7-5, she was utterly distraught.

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Ekaterina Alexandrova defeats Sabalenka in 's-Hertogenbosch to win her second career WTA singles title!#LibemaOpen pic.twitter.com/PmUg35Fhmo
— wta (@WTA) June 12, 2022

Sabalenka’s lack of pressure-handling capability has led her to miss out on some of the biggest moments of her career. The other big weakness in Sabalenka’s game was her second serve which was well exploited by Alexandrova on her way to the title. Sabalenka would try to get some mental training because a top 10 player like her with immense talent is not expected to blow out opportunities like this. Fans were frustrated with Aryna’s collapse but appreciated Ekaterina’s grit too.

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