The finals of the Adelaide International will see 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka face the confident Linda Noskova on Sunday.
The world No. 5 has got her season off to a fine start. She is yet to drop a set so far in the competition and wouldn’t mind keeping it that way en route to winning her 11th singles title on the tour.
Sabalenka played well in 2022, as she reached the US Open semis for the second time in her career . Sabalenka also finished runner-up at the season-ending WTA Finals.
The Belarusian star received a bye into the second round. Sabalenka was pushed to the limit by Liudmila Samsonova in the round of 16. However, Sabalenka did well to not let the match drift into the decisive third set. The hard-fought encounter ended 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-3). The 24-year-old faced 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka defeated the Czechia in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. In the semis, Sabalenka got the better of the experienced Romanian star, Irina-Camelia Begu in a one-sided encounter. Sabalenka played extremely well and didn’t give any chance to Begu and finished the match 6-3, 6-2. This was Sabalenka’s best performance so far in the campaign. She completely outplayed Begu as he powerful serves and ferocious returns were just too good. She will be beaming with confidence going into the clash against Noskova. However, there is no scope of complacency as Noskova has been quite lethal and decisive in her matches.
Linda Noskova, who is just 18 years old, has had a majestic run so far in the competition. If you would have predicted her to be in the finals of the tournament at the start, nobody would have agreed to your opinion. However, the youngster from the Czech Republic has been a force to reckon with and fans who have watched her play in Adelaide will not forget her name in a very long time.
Noskova turned pro in July 2019. She has won 6 ITF titles so far and debuted in Grand Slams in 2022. Noskova also entered the top 100 in the WTA rankings for the first time in her career last year. She has began the new season with a bang and made sure that fans will keep an eye on her performances in the days to come.
The talented player defeated Anna Kalinskaya in the qualifiers of the Adelaide International 1. This was a come-from-behind win as Noskova lost the first set. She faced Anastasia Potapova in another qualifying match. Noskova defeated the Russian player with ease in straight sets. In the main draw, Noskova began with a huge upset win against 3rd seed Daria Kasatkina. This was her first top-10 win in her career. She followed it up with a comprehensive win against fellow qualifier Claire Liu. The match ended in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. With this win, Noskova entered her first WTA 500 quarterfinal. She went on to defeat 2-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka in three hours to reach the semis. Noskova defeated top seed Ons Jabeur in the semis 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to register her first top-5 win. Noskova became the youngest player since Caroline Wozniacki in 2008 to reach the finals of a WTA 500 event.
Aryna Sabalenka and Linda Noskova will be facing each other for the first time. Therefore, the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0.
Prediction: Linda Noskova to win in three sets.
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