Vondrousova Upsets Sabalenka and Advances to Berlin Final

The WTA 500 Berlin semifinals took center stage on Saturday afternoon. The first two players to step onto the court were world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

The Belarusian had bounced back well from her Roland-Garros final defeat and had won her first two grass-court matches this season against Rebeka Masarova (6-2, 7-6) and Elena Rybakina (7-6, 3-6, 7-6), saving four match points against the Kazakh in the process.

On the other side, Vondrousova has been back on tour for several weeks. Having dropped beyond the top 150 due to a shoulder injury that disrupted her early season, the Czech player is formidable on grass. She eliminated Madison Keys (7-5, 7-6), Diana Shnaider (6-3, 6-7, 6-3), and Ons Jabeur (6-4, 6-1). The 25-year-old left-hander has built confidence, making this match a tricky one for the world No. 1.

This trend played out on the court. In the first set, Vondrousova pulled ahead with a double break to wrap it up in 35 minutes. Despite a brief surge of pride early in the second set—where Sabalenka led 2-0—the Czech player fought back, ultimately sealing the match on her serve after saving a break point (6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 21 minutes).

Sabalenka will not reach her eighth final in 2025 and bows out in the semifinals. As for Vondrousova, she levels the head-to-head record with today’s opponent (4-4). Ranked 164th before the tournament, she will rise to at least 101st, pending Sunday’s final against either Liudmila Samsonova or Wang Xinyu.