After defeating Paula Badosa on Friday in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinals, Aryna Sabalenka advanced to her third consecutive semifinal. The two-time runner-up Sabalenka overcame a set behind to defeat the Spaniard 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. In Stuttgart, in addition to the many people who were rooting for her, the Belarusian’s boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov was also there to support her.
The World No. 2 discussed how his presence inspired her that evening in her post-match news conference, sharing that she occasionally noticed him showing signs of nervousness. The fact that she didn’t want her partner to believe that his presence was the cause of her defeat only served to drive the defending Australian Open champion to work even harder to win.
“I mean, yeah, his support is very important. A couple of times today during the match, I was looking at him, and I saw him being very nervous. I was, like, No, I have to win this one. I don’t want to see him. I don’t know, sad and thinking that it’s his fault that I lost because he came. So I was just like pushing myself even harder to win this match,” Aryna Sabalenka commented.
Now the world no.2 (career-high), Aryna has a 22-3 win-loss record in 2023. Sabalenka is now having a run in Stuttgart where she defeated the world no.12 Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 6-3
and the world no.31 Paula Badosa Gibert 4-6 6-4 6-4.Aryna Sabalenka will face the world no.24 Anastasia Potapova in the semifinal on Saturday at 2:00 pm on Centre Court. In the past, they have never played each other up to now in top tournaments.
The Belarussian conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open. Sabalenka reached the final in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open).
Sabalenka won 12 titles in her career: 9 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 2 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)