{"id":74853,"date":"2024-03-24T11:54:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T11:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/miami-open-aryna-sabalenka-claims-emotional-victory-over-paula-badosa-daily-times\/"},"modified":"2024-03-24T11:54:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T11:54:38","slug":"miami-open-aryna-sabalenka-claims-emotional-victory-over-paula-badosa-daily-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/miami-open-aryna-sabalenka-claims-emotional-victory-over-paula-badosa-daily-times\/","title":{"rendered":"MIAMI OPEN: Aryna Sabalenka claims emotional victory over Paula Badosa – Daily Times"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"Aryna Sabalenka claimed a straight-sets victory over Paula Badosa to progress into the last 32 of the Miami Open days after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.<\/p>\n

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka returned to the tennis court after Koltsov died at the age of 42 on Monday in what police described as an \u201capparent suicide\u201d in Miami.<\/p>\n

Koltsov\u2019s death led Sabalenka to reveal her \u201cheart is broken\u201d, but she was able to show incredible composure and poise to beat good friend Badosa 6-4 6-3 after an emotional few days.<\/p>\n

Wet weather in Miami resulted in a lengthy delay before play on day three could finally get under way, with Sabalenka welcomed onto the Grandstand court to warm applause. Dressed in black and with a baseball cap on, the Belarusian looked up to the sky before she gave Badosa a fist pump at the coin toss with her opponent also kitted out in all-black.<\/p>\n

After a cagey start with the pair exchanging double-faults, Sabalenka forced two break points opportunities in the fifth game but Badosa fought back to hold.<\/p>\n

It was brief respite for the Spaniard, with Sabalenka able to eventually clinch the first break point of the match to move 4-3 up when Badosa sent her return long.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka sealed the first set when her fierce backhand was returned wide to claim a 46-minute opener in windy conditions.<\/p>\n

The pair shared a smile during the second game of set two when a big gust of wind forced Sabalenka to abandon her serve which sparked laughter from the crowd and the world number two.<\/p>\n

It was soon back to business for the 25-year-old and she broke Badosa again to move 2-1 up.<\/p>\n

Badosa forced a break point opportunity of her own in the eighth game of the second set, but Sabalenka responded with a sumptuous winner that earned applause from her opponent.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka broke Badosa again to secure victory before the good friends embraced at the net as the second seed opened her account for the tournament with an emotional win.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka is understandably not undertaking post-match media duties but Badosa praised her friend and opponent as a \u201cstrong woman\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, both of us are pretty strong mentally,\u201d Badosa said. \u201cWe\u2019re strong women. She proved it. I proved it. We knew how to disconnect in that match.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe played really well. I played really well for where I\u2019m coming from (following injury). I think it was quite decent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat all comes from because we know we\u2019ve been through a lot in our lives, we\u2019re strong women, and we know how to separate that in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if she was surprised by Sabalenka\u2019s level of play in the circumstances, Badosa added: \u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t surprised at all. As I said, she\u2019s a very, very strong woman, strong personality. You can see it on the court. Especially I know her off court. It doesn\u2019t surprise me at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew she was going to play very well or like normal. I told her I wish her the best. Let\u2019s see if she can go very deep in this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up for Sabalenka is a third-round clash with Ukraine\u2019s Anhelina Kalinina after she beat Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff joined Sabalenka in the last 32 with a rapid 6-1 6-2 triumph over Nadia Podoroska.<\/p>\n

Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek were among a host of big names whose scheduled matches were delayed until Saturday due to the downpours.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aryna Sabalenka claimed a straight-sets victory over Paula Badosa to progress into the last 32 of the Miami Open days after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov. Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka returned to the tennis court after Koltsov died at the age of 42 on Monday in what police described as an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dailytimes.com.pk\/assets\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Aryna-Sabalenka-claims-emotional-victory-.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t