Maria Sakkari v Aryna Sabalenka semi-final at Indian Wells witness delays due to on-court and chair umpire’s mic issues
Aryna Sabalenka wins the semi-final round fixture against Maria Sakkari to reach the final of the Indian Wells Open.
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Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari
The semi-final match in the Indian Wells Open 2023 between Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari was expected to be a lip-smacking encounter. However, the tennis fans which flocked to the stadium to watch the fixture had to wait as the microphone electronics on court malfunctioned.
The announcer who was introducing both the players stopped mid-way as his microphone stopped working. Even the chair umpire’s microphone was also not working. Hence, a 40 minutes delay to start the match was experienced.
The Radio channel dedicated to tennis The First Serve shared an excerpt of this video on social media.
Meanwhile, in the match, the Australian Open 2023 champion Aryna Sabalenka defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Her opponent in the final would be Elena Rybakina.
Aryna Sabalenka wants to focus on herself
The current World No.2 after winning the Australian Open 2023 ladies singles title, she had set her hopes to climb to the World No.1 ranking this season. Iga Swiatek currently leads the WTA rankings. She participated in the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships subsequently with this target in mind. However, she got a reality check when she was beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in the quarter-final round of the tournament.
Hence, Aryna Sabalenka decided to come to the Indian Wells Open with less expectations. Her motive to participate in this WTA 1000 tournament this time is to make people enjoy the kind of tennis she plays. After winning her fourth round match against Barbora Krejcikova, she made her thoughts known.
The Tennis Letter shared it on social media.
“Aryna Sabalenka on being 15-1 in 2023: “To be honest, I’m not focusing on the wins & the ranking & whatever. I’m just focused on myself… just trying to make people enjoy my game.”,” the caption read.
Aryna Sabalenka is in splendid form this season. However, to get to the top of the leaderboard will be a difficult task for her, since the gap in the ranking points between the Polish player and her is quite large. Iga Swiatek has accumulated 10585 points with her performances in the WTA tour, while Aryna Sabalenka has 6100 points in her kitty. A difference of 4485 ranking points.
The Belarusian has to win all the majors this season to bridge this gap in the ranking points between the two players. Also, she has to perform well in the WTA Masters tournaments as well as in the WTA Finals to minimize the gap. Also, she would also benefit if Iga Swiatek slips up in the competitions this season.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)