Sabalenka, Aug 7: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka earned a straight-sets win, 6-3, 6-4, over Shuai Zhang to advance to the round of 16 of the Canadian Open.
With the win, Sabalenka improved to 25-1 on hard courts this season, becoming the fastest player to reach 25 hard-court wins in a season since Serena Williams in 2016. She's also now 5-1 against Zhang at the WTA Tour level, winning their last five meetings – all in straight sets.
While the World No. 1 never appeared in real danger of an upset, Zhang kept her under pressure throughout. Sabalenka even stared down a break point in the final game before wiping it away and taking the last three points to close out the win in straight sets, WTA reports.
Sabalenka faces No. 16 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova next. She holds a narrow 5-4 edge in their head-to-head.
Meanwhile, two-time champion Jessica Pegula registered a 6-4, 6-0 win over Kamilla Rakhimova in a match that was delayed by rainfall.
Pegula’s third rounder in the Ontario capital marked her third match in four days, with her only day of rest being a travel day. However, the American saw the positives despite the minimal amount of preparation.
The 32-year-old will next face Diana Shnaider exactly a week after beating the world No.17 in the Washington semis.
Elsewhere, after receiving a second-round walkover from Lanlana Tararudee, the No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova took time to settle as she secured a gritty comeback 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win over Nikola Bartunkova in 1 hour and 59 minutes.
In the doubles draw, Gabriela Dabrowski and new partner Ekaterina Alexandrova lost their first-round match to Coco Gauff and Caty McNally. Sisters Leylah Annie and Bianca Jolie Fernandez received a wild card for the tournament but were ousted in the first round by Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider, 6-1, 6-2.
Fan favourite Alexandra Eala paired with Venus Williams in the doubles, but they were eliminated by Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato in the first round.
--IANS
