Aliaksandra Sasnovich surprised the public with one of the biggest victories in her career. Namely, she managed to beat Naomi Osaka at the China Open with a score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Although most expected the Japanese player to have an easy task in this match, just as it looked in the first set, it turned out that Sasnovich is much better than some expected.
The previous meeting between these two players showed the dominance of Osaka, but their fifth clash went in favor of the Belarusian tennis player.
In an interview with the media after the match, Sasnovich admitted she was surprised, stressing that she did not expect this outcome.
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"Honestly, I didn't believe until the end that I could beat Naomi, because she's a great player," Sasnovich said.
Osaka's dominance, but not enough to win
In the first set, Osaka had incredible dominance, especially because of herserve. However, the second set brought a completely different outcome; Sasnovich started to come to the net, hitting volleys, while the Japanese player regressed in all segments of the game.
The Belarusian kicked into high gear in the deciding set and with her courage and composure managed to keep the match under control, and in the end, take a big victory.
In the next round, she will face 23rd seed Marta Kostyuk, who was dominant against Ella Seidel, defeating her 6-1, 6-1.
It is difficult to predict whether the 30-year-old tennis player can really be dominant in the next round, but it is certain that a serious challenge awaits her.
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Although she will have an opponent across the net who on paper seems like a somewhat easy challenge, Sasnovich is aware that she has to be careful and that she has a difficult task ahead of her.
The Belarusian player proved and showed that she can compete with the biggest, which will surely bring her additional confidence.
