Aliaksandra Sasnovich racked up a dominant 7-5, 6-0 victory over Daria Kasatkina at the Singapore Open. After a closely contested opening set, the Belarusian took the match away from Kasatkina in the second. She gained six breaks of serve during the match and made a strong start to her campaign in Singapore. But it wasn’t just her performance that caught the attention of fans. Many were left baffled, seeing her bizarre service motion during the match.

Sasnovich hasn’t just shortened her serve preparation, but also performs a slight rotation with her right leg before tossing the ball and completing her serve. Some fans even mocked her for the service motion on social media. However, Serena Williams’ childhood coach, Rick Macci, came to Sasnovich’s defense. He pointed out that while her service action may look weird, it’s actually quite good when seen through a biomechanical point of view.

“Sasnovich and her SERVE looks bizarre but that is all window dressing and has little to do with the moment of truth,” he wrote on X. “Actually from a biomechanical view point she checks a lot of excellent boxes on fer delivery. Shoulder/shoulder elbow position is good. There is good space between the cocking phase and the head. The leg drive innates the the racquet entry almost on time.”

“Release of toss near eyes. Toss arm net post 1.30 to230.Drop of back hip incorporated. There is a verticle hip replacement. Good external and internal shoulder rotation.Good velocity of energy from the back hip. Hip is back and down. She stays sideways pretty good. The moral to her story is the windup and other personal styles should be used as a corrective technique. Showtime is when you get in the power position and now is connected from the ground up.”

This isn’t the first time that Sasnovich has grabbed attention for her service motion. Her serve came under the scanner earlier this year at the Australian Open during the clash against Jasmine Paolini. But it appears that her service motion has made even more noise this time around.

While people may find her unorthodox motion weird, Sasnovich wouldn’t mind it at all if she’s getting the results with it. Having not been able to make it past the qualifying rounds at both the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open, Sasnovich got a much-needed victory over Kasatkina.

But her campaign at the Singapore Open continues to get tougher as her second-round opponent will be one of the highest-ranked players on the WTA circuit.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich will lock horns against Mirra Andreeva next at the Singapore Open

Sasnovich will be up against Andreeva in the second round of the tournament. The latter has entered the event as the No. 1 and got a bye in the first round, unlike Sasnovich. So, she will likely be much fresher than the Belarusian come matchday.

This will be the second time that the two will meet in a tour-level match. They had previously played each other at the Iasi Open in 2024, where Andreeva had triumphed 6-1, 6-3. The World No. 5 will be the favorite to advance in Singapore as well.

She is the favorite to win, not just because of the major difference in ranking, but also because she has significantly better form than Sasnovich. Andreeva is coming off a solid run at the US Open, where she reached the quarterfinals before getting eliminated by Coco Gauff.

Andreeva is definitely among the contenders to win the title in Singapore. But she can’t afford to be complacent against a seasoned veteran like Sasnovich. Will the Belarusian be able to cause a monumental upset in the tournament by defeating Andreeva in the Round of 16? We will have to wait and see.