“I don’t think either of us likes to defend,” Elena Rybakina said ahead of her eleventh clash with Aryna Sabalenka on the WTA tour. This one line sums up the kind of rivalry both power hitters share. Well, Aryna did extend her lead in the head-to-head clash against Elena with another hard-fought win, but the Belarusian still feels she got lucky to clinch a win against the Kazakh.

During the women’s Berlin Open quarterfinals on Friday, the slugfest was expected. Even last year, when Sabalenka had to chase Rybakina for three sets before winning a photo-finish tiebreaker in Madrid, the World No. 1 admitted the toughness the 2022 Wimbledon champ brings to the court. “The thing about us is we are both aggressive players,” Sabalenka had said. A year later, when these two met in Berlin, just days ahead of the 2025 Wimbledon, nothing had changed. So much so that the Belarusian was left teetering on the edge.

In Berlin, Rybakina and Sabalenka brought out the big guns. They traded massive forehands like it was a contest of who could hit harder, and their serves were just as explosive, powerful enough to earn the respect of any player, male or female. Both had chances to swing the match in their favor but couldn’t quite hold on, getting broken at key moments.

The first set was as tight as it gets. Neither player gave an inch until the tiebreaker, where World No.1 Sabalenka managed to sneak ahead, taking it 8–6. But that was only the beginning. The Kazakh didn’t flinch. She came out swinging in the second set, breaking early and never looking back, winning it 6-3. Then the third set had everything. Breaks of serve, long rallies, wild momentum swings, and full-on tension. Both players broke each other, trying to wrestle control of the match. In one dramatic moment, Sabalenka charged forward but slipped and crashed onto the grass, just one of many reminders of how physical and gritty this match had become.

Still, the drama wasn’t over. Aryna Sabalenka found herself on the edge, staring down four match points—two at 4–5 and two more in the deciding tie-break. Somehow, she clawed her way out of trouble each time, hanging on with a sheer force of will. She finally closed out the match, wrapping up a nearly three-hour battle to book her spot in the Berlin Open semifinals for the first time. It also marked her eighth semifinal of the season.

While it was a battle of grit, Aryna Sabalenka thinks luck played a role as well.

Aryna Sabalenka calls her victory against Elena Rybakina “lucky”

Aryna Sabalenka now leads the head-to-head against Rybakina 7-4. However, she believes luck played a role in today’s victory.  “Elena is a great player. We had a lot of tough battles in the very last stages of Slams… She’s an amazing player. I honestly have no idea how I was able to win those points. I think I got lucky,” the top seed said in her on-court interview.

On the first match point, the World No.1 hit a backhand that clipped the net and dribbled over. It was the kind of lucky bounce that can turn everything around. And it did. That stroke of fortune gave her just enough lift to finish the job.

For a spot in the Berlin final, Aryna Sabalenka will face Marketa Vondrousova, who got past Ons Jabeur earlier in the day. It’s a crucial test and perfect preparation for Wimbledon, a tournament Sabalenka had to miss last year because of a shoulder injury.

The grass has been kind to her in the past. The Belarusian made the semifinals at Wimbledon in both 2021 and 2023. And with two Grand Slam finals already under her belt this year, the question now is, can she finally go all the way and lift the Venus Rosewater Dish this year? What do you think?