As if Aryna Sabalenka didn’t have enough ability to disrupt opponents, the world’s top-ranked player now has a new weapon to dazzle her foes: an engagement ring.
Days after getting engaged to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis, Sabalenka won her opening match at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, defeating Japanese qualifier Himeno Sakatsume 6-4, 6-2 in the second round at Indian Wells, Calif.
The top-seeded Belarusian, who got a first-round bye, prevailed in her first match since losing to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final and her first wearing her ring.
“We double-checked if there is a possibility to lose the diamond, and there is none, so I was pretty confident wearing this ring, and it feels comfy, feels shiny,” Sabalenka said, jokingly adding, “I hope that my opponent will get distracted with this diamond and it’s going to benefit me.”
Sabalenka dominated Sakatsume, winning 80% of her first-serve points and never facing a break point.
Sabalenka said of Frangulis’ proposal on Tuesday in Indian Wells, “I wasn’t prepared at all. It was a surprise. … The whole team knew. My agent told me that I have a very important meeting for 15 minutes. Just put on something nice. She wasn’t pushing enough for me to put the makeup on, and I was super tired in the evening. I was, like, ‘OK, I’m not going to do that. I’ll just wear jeans.’
“Then, yeah, we got there and I saw Georgios and I was crying half of the time, because I thought that I looked ugly, not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment. I stopped everything, and I asked the videographer and the photographer to make sure that my face is not there, just the ring, and, I don’t know, side views and from the back, just so you guys wouldn’t be shocked by the way I looked.”
The next opponent to face Sabalenka will be Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who rallied past 29th-seeded Australian Maya Joint 0-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff of the United States topped Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 7-6 (5), improving to 3-0 in their all-time matchups. Gauff also beat the Uzbekistani at the Australian Open earlier this year.
“It was a tough match,” Gauff said. “Every time I play her, it’s awkward. I felt like I was really struggling once the conditions slowed down. So, yeah, something to think about for the next match, but happy to get through it.”
Also advancing to the third round were seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 10th-seeded Victoria Mboko of Canada, 14th-seeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, 17th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark, 23rd-seeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and 25th-seeded Emma Raducanu of Great Britain.
Eleventh-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova and 21st-seeded Diana Shnaider, both of Russia, and 30th-seeded Xinyu Wang of China lost their second-round matches.
–Field Level Media
