Aryna Sabalenka thanks Billie Jean King after Australian Open win
It's Sabalenka's first title.
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No. 1 seed Ons Jabeur and No. 8 seed Belinda Bencic have advanced to the final in Berlin.
Bencic had the longer of the two semifinals, downing No. 2 seed Maria Sakkari 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 in a thrilling three-hour affair to clinch a spot in the bett1open final for the second consecutive season.
“We both kind of pushed really hard, we both didn’t give each other anything. I think it was high quality, of course, we held our serves as much as we could, and I really felt like we put on a show there,” Bencic said after Saturday’s match.
Leaving it ALL out on the court 💜
— wta (@WTA) June 18, 2022
A high quality encounter goes the way of 🇨🇭 @BelindaBencic who will now vie for her 2nd grass court title 🏆#bett1open pic.twitter.com/9q7gpjkGka
Bencic will face Jabeur in her fifth career grass-court final after the Tunisian star took out No. 7 seed Coco Gauff in Saturday’s second semifinal. Jabeur cruised past Gauff in straight sets, winning the opponents’ first grass-court meeting.
Winning two of their three meetings, Bencic holds the advantage in the head-to-head with Jabeur, however, the 27-year-old won their most recent contest in Madrid.
Both players will be looking for their second career singles final in Sunday’s championship match.
It's Sabalenka's first title.
Instead, she'll set her sights on the doubles bracket.
Pegula is the last American woman standing.
Both lost in straight sets.