Sabalenka regroups to halt Andreescu, reach quarterfinals in Stuttgart

WATCH: Paula Badosa defeats Elena Rybakina in the second round of 2022 Stuttgart.

Off the court, controversy and uncertainty surrounded Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka—but inside the lines she was all business as she held off a resurgent Bianca Andreescu 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 at the Stuttgart Open.

Despite being played on indoor clay courts, the 500-level event is sometimes seen as a preview of the grass season, given how closely the results seem to mirror each other: Wimbledon winners Petra Kvitova and Ashleigh Barty are recent Stuttgart champions, and strong grass-court players like Karolina Pliskova and CoCo Vandeweghe have also reached finals in previous editions.

So there’s a touch of irony that Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up in Stuttgart and Wimbledon semifinalist, will not get to have much of a grass season this summer, after the AELTC and LTA made the controversial announcement yesterday that all tournaments in Britain intend to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing.

For someone who shows as much emotion as Sabalenka, the No. 3 seed looked subdued as she took the court for her second-round match, keeping her eyes lowered and head bowed, only looking up to acknowledge the fans inside the Porsche Arena with a nod and a wave.

But once the match began, Sabalenka was homed in against 21-year-old Andreescu, who was playing her first tournament in nearly seven months. The 2019 US Open champion, who is currently ranked outside the WTA’s Top 100, came out motivated to test her level against the world No. 4 but soon found herself overpowered by Sabalenka.

The Belarusian’s booming groundstrokes were hitting every target in the opening set, which saw her strike 10 winners to three unforced errors. Sabalenka didn’t allow Andreescu to bring out her signature variety, breaking twice and reeling off five games in a row en route to a 6-1 set. Andreescu finally found her way in during the second set, using her dropshots and backhand slice to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm and bring them to a decider.

Before Sabalenka’s well-documented service woes threatened to derail another match, the 23-year-old switched gears in the third set. She leaned on her powerful but risky second serve to keep Andreescu on the back foot, saving all four break points she faced on her way to victory in nearly two hours.

In addition to being a highly entertaining clash and contrast of styles, both players have plenty of positive takeaways from the match. Sabalenka, into her second quarterfinal in the year after Doha, seems to be putting together some much-needed positive results. And Andreescu, despite the understandable rust, isn’t far from her best tennis—a prospect that spells bad news for her opponents, and great news for tennis fans.

“She played unbelievable,” Sabalenka said in an on-court interview. “I’m super lucky that I got the win today. She pushed me really hard, and I’m super happy with the win.”

Sabalenka awaits the winner of No. 5 seed Anett Kontaveit or Ekaterina Alexandrova in the next round.