ROME (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka showed no ill-effects from her previous marathon match as she eased past Jelena Ostapenko to reach the semifinals of the Italian Open on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Sabalenka needed just 73 minutes to win 6-2, 6-4, setting up match point with an ace and then sealing the result when Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, returned into the net.
In men’s action, 29th-seeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile extended his surprising run by beating Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-4 to follow up his upset victories over Novak Djokovic and Karen Khachanov in the previous two rounds.
Tabilo, who hasn’t dropped a set during his first appearance in Rome, served an ace down the T on his first match point.
In his first Masters series semifinal, Tabilo will face either 2017 champion Alexander Zverev or 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz, who were playing later.