The world’s number one Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) prevailed over Sofia Kenin (USA) by 2-0 (6:1, 6:2) at her WTA 1000 China Open first round match, which lasted just 67 minutes
Aryna Sabalenka did not give to her opponent a single breakpoint and achieved 5 aces and 22 winners, dominating the court from the very beginning of the match.
“I’m very happy with the win, I think I played great tennis today”, said Aryna Sabalenka. “I didn’t expect to play so well after not playing in tournaments for a long time. I think the way I served was key”, added she.
Aryna Sabalenka will fight for a fifth title in China, and in the next round will face Katie Boulter (UK), who eliminated Magdalena Frech (Poland) by 2-1 (6:4, 3:6, 6:2).
On the other hand, the Wimbledon champion and 8th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) ended her participation in Beijing after losing to Anhelina Kalinina (Ukraine) by 1-2 (6:1, 4:6, 1:6).
“Today was not a good match for me. I started very badly, to be honest. It was very fast and after 20 minutes I was losing 0:5. But I tried to get my rhythm back. It worked at the end of the second set and then I moved on”, said Anhelina Kalinina after the victory.
With this win against Marketa Vondrousova at the China Open, Anhelina Kalinina has registered her most wins during a single season in the WTA (22). it is also her first Top-10 win of the season.
