Madrid (AFP)
Three weeks before Roland-Garros (May 30-June 13), Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka confirmed her current excellent skills on clay by offering the Madrid tournament at the expense of Ashleigh Barty (6-0, 3- 6, 6-4), two weeks after losing to world No. 1 in the final in Stuttgart (Germany).
The men's final will oppose Sunday (6.30 p.m.) Alexander Zverev (N.6), striker of Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals (6-4, 6-4), then Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday , to the Italian Matteo Berrettini (10th), a newcomer at this stage in Masters 1000, at 25 years old.
At 23 years old, Sabalenka will be rewarded for her Madrid week, during which she made speak her raw power, by entering the top 5 on Monday, in fourth place precisely.
And it inevitably positions itself in the perspective of Roland-Garros, even if it has never yet passed the knockout stages in a major tournament.
For Barty, winner of the Parisian Grand Slam in 2019 and therefore in Stuttgart at the end of April, the series of consecutive victories on European clay ends at sixteen.
In Germany already, Sabalenka had won the first set, before injuring himself and seeing the world No. 1 turn the situation around and inflict a 6-0 in the second set.
- "More afraid" -
The powerful Belarusian (1.82 m) did not let the scenario repeat itself in Madrid's "Caja Magica".
This time, it was even she who blasted Barty 6-0 in the initial set, in just 25 minutes.
His recipe?
Combine maximum risk taking and success.
In detail, she was then regularly circling around 190 km / h in service, gained 100% of the points behind her second ball in this first set, and struck eleven winning shots there for only a direct fault.
And if the Australian managed to equalize in a round everywhere by making speak his tactical science and his intelligence of play, slice of backhand so destabilizing in the head, it is Sabalenka who had the last word.
She appeared at the perfect time, 4 games across the deciding set, and won the last two shutouts.
Ahead of the final, Sabalenka had gone through the tournament like a rocket, with just 18 games lost in five matches, and an average of over 28 winning strokes per game.
If this is the tenth trophy of his career, and his second of the season after Abu Dhabi, it is his very first on clay (for his third final).
How does she explain her new ease on ocher?
"Something has changed in my head, I'm not really afraid of this surface anymore", summarizes Sabalenka.
- Three years of waiting for Zverev -
“Before, I thought it wasn't a surface for me, that it was very difficult with long rallies. But this year I'm more relaxed, I just play my game. And I prepared myself really well for clay, I worked a lot on my movement, she explains. I remain aggressive, I just have to put a few more balls in the court than on hard. "
Despite his first defeat in the final in 2021, after his titles in Melbourne, Miami and Stuttgart, Barty nonetheless displays solid preparation on clay.
In the men's table, Zverev climbed to the final without losing a single set.
After Nadal the day before, his victim of the day was called Thiem.
The Austrian was playing his resumption tournament after taking a step back with the circuit for two months, between dizziness felt after his first Grand Slam coronation at the US Open 2020 and mental wear and tear in the face of health restrictions.
"It has been a good week for me so far. But the work is not done," said Zverev, in search of a first Masters 1000 trophy since 2018 - already in Madrid - his fourth overall.
In the evening, Berrettini (10th) dominated 6-4, 6-4 the young Norwegian Casper Ruud to invite himself in the final, two weeks after his title obtained in Belgrade.
He thus becomes the third Italian finalist in Masters 1000 after Fabio Fognini in 2019 in Monte-Carlo, and Jannick Sinner in Miami at the beginning of April.
© 2021 AFP