Aryna Sabalenka came back from 2-6, 0-4 to beat Nikola Bartunkova and reach the semifinals at the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Berlin Tennis Open, the steepest deficit she has turned around all season. It headlined four quarterfinals on a packed day on the grass: Jessica Pegula came through an all-American battle with Madison Keys across two tiebreaks, Alexandra Eala took a second straight top-10 win, and Linda Noskova needed barely over an hour to beat Paula Badosa. The semifinals are set.
Sabalenka drags herself back from the edge
There were long stretches on Friday when Aryna Sabalenka's Berlin campaign looked set to end in one of the season's bigger upsets. Nikola Bartunkova, the 20-year-old Czech ranked 62nd, was close to untouchable through the opening set and a half, mixing disguised slice and well-timed drop shots to pull the world No. 1 out of any rhythm. Bartunkova's serve was the foundation, landing so well in the first set that Sabalenka could barely get a return in play. She took the first set 6-2, surged to 4-0 in the second, and held a break point for 5-2 that died on a drop shot a fraction short of the net.
From there the match turned. Sabalenka edged back into the second set, took the tiebreak 7-2, and came through a deciding set that went with serve until 4-4 before she pulled away to win it 6-4, a 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 result over 2 hours and 23 minutes. The comeback is the steepest she has had to overcome in 2026, beyond her set-down wins over Elena Rybakina in the Indian Wells final and Naomi Osaka in Madrid. She saved 11 of 17 break points and hit 10 aces, though eight double faults and a 64% first-serve rate showed how much she had to grind. She won 19 of 36 serve pressure points and 12 of 29 on return, numbers that track the pressure Bartunkova kept on her throughout.
Pegula outlasts Keys in an all-American tiebreak battle
A fiercely contested all-American quarterfinal produced the kind of match neither player wanted to release. Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys traded blows over 1 hour and 46 minutes with no break of serve landing when it mattered. Pegula came close to trailing 2-5 in the opening set but held her composure, took the first-set tiebreak 7-5, and edged the second 8-6 after Keys pushed her to the brink.
The margins were as fine as a match gets: Keys won more total points and struck more aces, yet lost in straight sets, undone by a higher error count against an opponent who kept redirecting and rarely missed. Pegula was the steadier player in the decisive moments, converting 2 of 3 break points, saving 4 of 6, and winning 14 of 21 serve pressure points. The win moves her into her fifth semifinal of 2026 and extends a 6-2 grass record over the past year. For Keys, it ends an otherwise encouraging week in Berlin.
Eala continues her top-10 run with a win over Svitolina
Alexandra Eala backed up her win over Elena Rybakina with another at the top end of the draw, beating sixth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 23 minutes to reach the Berlin semifinals for the first time. It was her sixth career top-10 win, and her third in a week here after Vekic and Rybakina. The 21-year-old set the tone early, breaking for 2-0, and each time Svitolina pulled level Eala broke again, going back ahead for 3-2 in the first set. She won 79% of her first-serve points, took 12 of 19 serve pressure points and 14 of 23 on return, the serve giving her the cushion to keep attacking. The one scare came late in the second, where Svitolina lifted her level and ran two games back to 4-5, but Eala held herself together to close it out. A semifinal against Linda Noskova is next.
Noskova blows past Badosa in 68 minutes
Linda Noskova needed 68 minutes to beat Paula Badosa 6-1, 6-3 and reach the semifinals. The serve carried everything: she landed 73% of first serves, hit eight aces, and did not drop one of the seven break points she faced all match. The clearest example came in the second set, when Badosa reached 0-40 on the Noskova serve and got nothing from it, three straight aces wiping the opening out before two more big serves closed the game. Noskova won 17 of 21 serve pressure points behind that delivery, and Badosa, ranked 142nd and working back through the rankings, found no way into the heavy, flat hitting. It is a third straight win for Noskova and a second grass-court semifinal, where she meets Eala, who beat Bartunkova in the Birmingham final this month for her first career win over a Czech.
The semifinals
With all four quarterfinals done, Saturday pairs Sabalenka against Pegula, the world No. 1 and the third seed meeting on grass, and Eala against Noskova in a rematch of their Indian Wells meeting earlier this year. After a Friday built on comebacks and one-sided wins in equal measure, the weekend has plenty to build on.
