Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – World number one Aryna Sabalenka returned to her hard court comfort zone with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in the WTA 1000 in Toronto on Tuesday. It was a solid start for Sabalenka in her bid to bounce back after falling in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. The Belarusian star has dominated on hard courts this year and on Tuesday notched her 24th win in 25 matches on the surface. The lone defeat was her loss to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final. Now she’s eyeing a North American hard court run that could include a three-peat at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year that starts on August 30 in New York.
“I’m happy with the performance, I’m happy with the fight,” Sabalenka said after her second-round opener. “I knew going into this match I might struggle a little bit after a little break, but I was ready for that. I’m happy that mentally and physically I was ready to go.”
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Sabalenka didn’t have it all her own way against the 111th-ranked Uchijima. But she emerged from an exchange of five breaks of serve that opened the second set with a 3-2 lead and made the advantage stand up. She held for 4-2, and when she had her first chance to serve it out, she pounced, sealing the match on her second match point with an overhead winner. Uchijima had surprised the Belarusian in the opening game of the match, clawing back from 40-15 down to break on the way to a quick 2-0 lead. But Sabalenka won the next five games and polished off the opening set with a confident hold of serve. In the third round, she’ll face China’s Zhang Shuai, who was leading Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 4-0 when the Latvian retired from their match.
Former world number one Iga Swiatek survived some nervy moments to launch her US Open build-up with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Sara Bejlek. In her first match since her Wimbledon title defense ended with a third-round exit, Poland’s seventh-seeded Swiatek was rolling through the first nine games, appearing in total control with a double-break for a 3-0 lead in the second.
But her Czech opponent dug in and disrupted Swiatek’s rhythm, winning two straight games before Swiatek pulled off a great escape — fending off nine break points in a 22-minute sixth game to hold serve for a 4-2 lead. “I’m happy that I stayed in the game and stayed solid because I felt at the end it got pretty physical,” Swiatek said. Swiatek has slipped from third in the world at this time last year to her current eighth. Her Wimbledon disappointment came just four weeks after the four-time French Open champion bowed out in the last 16 at Roland Garros. In fact, Swiatek has yet to reach a Tour-level final this season. She’ll continue her quest to change that when she takes on Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Croatian Donna Vekic.
Eighth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova reached the third round by walkover when scheduled opponent Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand withdrew because of illness. Ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina rallied from a set and a break down to beat Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. And 10th-seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, shook off a slow start to beat Canadian wild card Katherine Sebov 7-6 (7/4), 6-0. Kostyuk, seeded 10th, was broken twice to trail 4-1 in the first set before rebounding. “Obviously the first set wasn’t easy, but I’m happy to have that type of match coming back because (if) you kind of pull through difficult moments you know you can do it,” said Kostyuk, who next faces former Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
© 2024 AFP
