Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka needed just 54 minutes to rout China’s Wang Xinyu 6-1, 6-3 on Tuesday, coasting into the third round of the Cincinnati Open.
It was a dominant showing on all fronts for the Belarusian, who won 93.3% of her second-serve points and 80% of her second-return points. She lost just six points on her serve in eight games and didn’t face a single break point.
“She’s a tough opponent and to get this win in straight sets, under an hour, it’s an insane result and I’m so happy to be through,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “I think I really trusted myself, I was going for my shots without overthinking, and I think that was the weapon of tonight’s match. I’m super happy I was able to stay focused and to be there in every point.”
The win was Sabalenka’s 50th at an ATP Masters 1000 event as the World No. 1 player. She’s just the third player to reach that milestone since the format began in 2009, joining Serena Williams (104) and Iga Swiatek (58).
She’ll next face Czech Sara Bejlek, who rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 upset of No. 16 Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, for a spot in the quarterfinals. After Bejlek was broken twice and won just 50% of her service points in the first set, she flipped the script from there, winning 34 of 46 service points (73.9%) over the final two sets and saving the only break point she faced.
Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff didn’t face the same struggles, improving to 4-0 all-time against No. 28 seed and fellow American Ann Li in a 6-1, 7-6 (3) triumph. She rallied from down 5-3 to force the second-set tiebreaker and opened a 3-0 lead, finishing it with ease from there.
“Overall I’m happy with how I played,” Gauff said. “Ann’s not an easy opponent to play. She has a lot of variety in her game so I’m happy to get through.”
No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia and No. 10 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine each coasted to straight-sets victories. Andreeva beat No. 32 Janice Tjen of Indonesia 6-1, 7-6 (5), while Kostyuk swept Sloane Stephens 7-5, 7-5.
No. 20 Madison Keys bested No. 33 Czech Karterina Siniakova 6-1, 6-3 in 78 minutes. She’ll next face Wang Xiyu of China, who advanced to the third round via walkover when No. 8 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury.
In the final match of the day, No. 22 Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic eked out a 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5) win over No. 13 Iva Jovic in an unexpectedly defensive match. While both sets went to tiebreakers, each competitor broke the opponent’s serve five times.
–Field Level Media
