Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostyuk had two previous losses to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. However, she put Sabalenka under stress in their Wednesday quarterfinal match. Sabalenka prevailed in the 2 1/2 hour duel by winning both set tiebreaks, 7-6, 7-6.
Sabalenka‘s problems were also the conditions. It was windy to the point that the clay was blowing in her eyes. Then, there was a rainy interval in the second set tiebreaker when Sabalenka walked over and asked the chair umpire if play was going to continue.
In an unfortunate series of events, the chair umpire did not stop play, but it started to rain significantly harder, and Sabalenka, on her second serve, refused to play.
Kostyuk was extremely upset that Sabalenka stopped because when play resumed, it would restore Sabalenka to her first serve.
I’m with Marta Kostyuk on this one
Player should not be able to unilaterally decide to stop playing after the first serve after receiving instructions from the chair umpire to carry on. Sabalenka will resume later with a first serve at a critical stage of this match. Weak… pic.twitter.com/xfcOObudGS
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) April 30, 2025
Aryna Sabalenka wants to stop play because of the rain, serving at 4-5 in the tiebreak in Madrid.
She missed her first serve, then asks the umpire about the rain.
Umpire: “I don’t think it’s that bad yet to stop. We can still play a bit.”
Aryna walks back to hit a second… pic.twitter.com/ZaOjaq0VgQ
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 30, 2025
Tracy Austin, commentating on Tennis Channel, said she understood both sides, but Sabalenka was right to stop play because it was raining too heavily.
Though Kostyuk was upset, she regained her composure and won the point on Sabalenka’s second first serve when play resumed. It did not play a direct role in the outcome of the match.
Aryna Sabalenka Won The Slugfest
Kostyuk has never competed this well against Sabalenka. She lost to her in two previous meetings at the 2023 French Open, 3-6, 2-6, and 2022 in Dubai, 4-6, 1-6. She served for the first set before the tiebreaker but could not convert.
Sabalenka also failed to capitalize on her opportunities. She served for the match in the second set, but Kostyuk hung in and forced the tiebreaker.
Aryna Sabalenka will next take on another Ukrainian, Elina Svitolina, who won her quarterfinal match in 52 minutes. She will be the better-rested player of the two when they meet in the semifinals on Thursday.
Svitolina has one career win in five matches against Sabalenka in the 2020 Strasbourg semifinal. They played twice last year in Rome and Cincinnati. The Rome match was decided by a tight third-set tiebreak.
