Toronto: 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. It was a solid start for Sabalenka in her bid to bounce back after falling in the quarterfinal 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.
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 defence 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.
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 semifinal at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, shook off a slow start to beat Canadian wild card Katherine Sebov 7-6 (7/4), 6-0. Agencies
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