The drop shot once again proved fruitful for Sabalenka. A beautiful change of pace on the backhand side produced 30-40 and a forehand junk ball died upon landing to deny Svitolina the consolidation she was looking for. At times the delicate shot was used out of desperation, but nevertheless was a key factor to the No. 2 seed’s success on the night.
Urged on by the crowd, Sabalenka pulled away by bringing back her traditional brand of power tennis. The dropper made another appearance in moving her ahead 4-2.
Keeping the deficit to a single break, Svitolina broke at love when Sabalenka served for the contest. At 5-5, 30-40, Svitolina saved a break point for the first time after seeing her opponent capitalize on the first six against her serve.
Sabalenka opted for the drop shot to open the 12th game, but this time, Svitolina showed off her wheels to one up her opponent. Arriving at two match points, Svitolina seemingly had the match won—only to completely undercut her backhand into the open court as she slid up to Sabalenka’s short defensive reply.
In the tie-break, Sabalenka couldn’t back up her first three mini-breaks. Down match point after the Belarusian’s backhand crosscourt winner, Svitolina held firm in a lengthy rally to wipe it away with a forehand finish. Sabalenka then staved off her third match point by getting enough weight behind her first serve —and crossed the finish line when her imposing forehand return caused Svitolina to net her final backhand.
Sabalenka is through to the last eight at the Foro Italico for the second time, having advanced to the semifinals in 2022. Ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko awaits.
