's-Hertogenbosch 2022 final to be contested between Aryna Sabalenka & Ekaterina Alexandrova, both of whom are banned from Wimbledon
Belarus' top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, two players who have been banned from the Wimbledon Championships due to their nationalities, will take to the court at the Autotron Rosmalen on Sunday to contest the first grasscourt final of the 2022 season.
Both women scored similarly dominant wins in their respective semifinal matches at the 2022 Libema Open to book their respective spots in the summit clash.
First grass court final of the year at WTA ‘s-Hertogenbosch is between Aryna Sabalenka and Ekaterinburg Alexandrova, two players who have been banned by #Wimbledon because of their nationalities.
First out on court, Alexandrova needed an hour and 16 minutes to get over countrywoman Veronika Kudermetova.
She has dropped only 11 games in three matches since surving a scare against Dayana Yastremska in the opening round of the tournament. The former World No. 25 will now be eyeing a second career title heading into Sunday's final.
Sabalenka has also been tested in some of her matches this week, but has managed to raise her level in the big moments. She did just that to eke out the first set in her semifinal against Shelby Rogers in a tiebreaker, following which she took control of the contest — winning 7-6(6), 6-0.
Both Sabalenka and Alexandrova possess powerful flat groundstrokes that make it extremely dangerous on low-bouncing grasscourts. The duo, however, are unlikely to get a chance to showcase their talent at the biggest grasscourt stage at SW19.
Wimbledon organizers had earlier decided to deny Russian and Belarusian players entry into this year's tournament in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The ban rules out some of the sport's biggest names, including Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Victoria Azarenka from competing at SW19.
Aryna Sabalenka to drop massive points at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships
In the wake of the ban of Russian and Belarusian players by Wimbledon, the ATP and WTA announced their decision to strip the 2022 Wimbledon Championships of ranking points.
The bodies also announced that while players will not have the opportunity to win points at Wimbledon this year, they will also be dropping the points won last year.
Aryna Sabalenka will be one of the many players facing the brunt of the recent developments. The Belarusian reached the semifinal at SW19 last year but will drop 780 points as a result of the ban and the stripping of ranking points.