Aryna Sabalenka is relishing the struggle after battling past Elise Mertens and into the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
The world number one is yet to drop a set but has been pushed in all of her matches so far, with her latest scrap seeing her overcome former doubles partner Mertens 6-4 7-6 (4).
There was not the same sense of jeopardy as there had been in Sabalenka’s late-night duel with Emma Raducanu in the third round, with the top seed never behind but unable to shake off Mertens until the second-set tie-break.
“Roland Garros was also quite challenging,” said Sabalenka, who has now made at least the quarter-finals on her last 11 appearances at grand slams.
“I love these challenges. I think every time you go through these tough matches, you kind of bring your game to the next level, and it helps to improve your game as well.
“I feel like, with every match I’m playing here, I’m getting better and better mentally and also physically. So I love these tough challenges. I only hope to get better and better in each round.”
The victory was her 46th of the season – way ahead of any other player, with only four women managing more wins in the whole of 2024.
Sabalenka is extending her lead at the top of the rankings with every success having missed Wimbledon last year through injury, but she is desperate to add a fourth grand slam title to her CV after heartbreaking losses in the finals of the Australian Open and French Open this year.
She is yet to reach a Wimbledon final but it would be a huge shock if she falls before then this year, with numerous upsets on her side of the draw meaning she finds the unlikely figure of Laura Siegemund awaiting her next.
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The 37-year-old German had won only two singles matches here in her career prior to this year but made it through to the last eight with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Argentinian lucky loser Solana Sierra.
Siegemund has an unusual game based on heavy slice and attacking the net, and she insisted she will not be fazed by facing Sabalenka.
She said: “Of course I am surprised. If you would have told me I play quarter-finals here, I would have never believed it.
“On the other hand, it’s a very simple math always in tennis. You have an opponent, either you find good solutions and you execute well, you go forward, or you don’t, and you don’t go forward.
“As I said after big wins before, I have this game and this maybe boldness to take out big names. I’ve always had that, just maybe because I don’t care who is on the other side. In a positive, respectful way, I don’t care.”
It is proving to be a good tournament for the veterans, with 34-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ending a nine-year wait to make a second quarter-final by seeing off Britain’s Sonay Kartal 7-6 (3) 6-4.
