Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka completely outclassed two-time champion Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of the Italian Open 2024, which helped her claim a spot in the quarterfinals taking place in Rome. Notably, the star player marked her magnificent comeback in the third set to wrap up a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 win over Elina. Meanwhile, the 26-year-old is all set to face Jelena Ostapenko and will be looking to defeat her to claim a spot in the semi-finals of the marquee event.
The 16th seed Elina took advantage of her unforced errors just after 43 minutes of play. Following the same, she improved her game and struck back in the second set. However, she was just able to win 33% of the second set on her first serve. Meanwhile, just after some time, Sabalenka raced a forehand return and won with a last and final stroke.
Sabalenka was ecstatic after the win and revealed that she gave her everything on the field and tried hard to fight against Elina. In addition, the star player accepted that it was a big challenge for her to defeat, but she came up very strong irrespective of losing the first set.
I was thinking it's a challenge to fight through whatever I had on the court: Aryna Sabalenka
"I gave it all today. I couldn't give up. I couldn't leave the court. I felt like if my body allows me to play even 15 per cent of my best tennis, I'm going to stay there, I'm going to fight. I was thinking it's a challenge to fight through whatever I had on the court. I'm able to fight through it then I'm a really strong person. I'm really proud of myself today," Aryna Sabalenka said after the win.
"Sometimes I think you need to accept these tough challenges when everything is against you and fight through it. It's a good preparation for the Grand Slams because in the Grand Slams sometimes not everything is going. your way and you have to fight through it," she added further.