After earning a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over world No. 32 Amanda Anisimova, world No. 8 Aryna Sabalenka now faces world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of the Italian Open. This will be the third meeting between these two players in 2022, and Swiatek won the previous two in straight sets. The most recent of those two match-ups came in Stuttgart on April 24, and that was an indoor clay-court match.
Sabalenka has looked really strong in Rome thus far, earning straight-set wins over world No. 42 Zhang Shuai and world No. 11 Jessica Pegula before defeating Anisimova. Anisimova is in pretty good form right now, so that was really a nice win. The Belarusian did, however, have eight double faults against the American in that match, and she was broken five times throughout the course of that three-setter. That type of thing might fly against Anisimova, but it certainly won’t against the best player in the world.