Adelaide International 1, 2023: Sabalenka storms past Begu into final
Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka made light work of Irina-Camelia Begu in the women's singles match to reach the final of the Adelaide International 1. The world number five beat Begu 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the WTA 500 event. She will face the winner of world number two and first-seeded Ons Jabeur and 102nd-ranked qualifier Linda Noskova on Sunday. Here's more.
Key stats from the match
Sabalenka fired six aces to Begu's one. The former, however, conceded five double faults, while Begu committed two in that regard. Notably, Sabalenka slammed 17 winners in contrast to Begu's eight. Sabalenka converted three of her seven break points. She won a total of 60 points, including 38 through serves.
Sabalenka's H2H record against Begu
Sabalenka claimed her maiden win over Begu and bettered her head-to-head record to 1-1. They first met in R64 of the 2022 Miami Open, with Begu winning 6-4, 6-4.
Sabalenka's journey to the final
Sabalenka prevailed against Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(8), 7-6(3) in R16. She beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 7-5 in the quarter-finals. Sabalenka then got past Begu with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 win to book a berth in the final.
19th career singles final for Sabalenka
10-time titlist Sabalenka will make her 19th career singles final appearance on Sunday. She seeks her first title since 2021. As per WTA, Sabalenka has reached the final at her last two events, having ended 2022 as the runner-up to Carolina Garcia in the WTA Finals. Notably, this is the first time Sabalenka has won consecutive semi-finals since Stuttgart and Madrid in 2021.
