World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka yesterday said her performances in “key moments” were crucial to surviving a major scare in the China Open second round, after she defeated unseeded Katie Boulter 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) in Beijing.
Sabalenka saved seven break points at 5-5 and then forced the stubborn Briton, ranked 56th in the world, into a rare backhand error to clinch the opening set.
The Belarusian notched another must-win break in the second set to again draw level at 5-5 before triumphing in a tie-break by slamming down an unreturned serve.
Photo: Reuters
She is to battle Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the next round for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I think what made the difference was that in the key moments I played a little bit better than her,” Sabalenka said at a post-match news conference.
“I think it was all about those last games in each set. She had the opportunity and I’m super glad that I didn’t give her those sets easily,” she added. “I kept fighting, kept trying, and that’s what made the difference.”
World No. 4 Jessica Pegula bounced back from a set down to beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-1.
France’s world No. 10 Caroline Garcia suffered a second-set wobble before downing Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico beat Storm Hunter of Australia and Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals.
On Monday, Chan’s sister, Latisha Chan, and Yana Sizikova of Russia crashed out in the opening round with a 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 loss to Brazilians Ingrid Martins and Luisa Stefani.
The Chan sisters on Sunday won the women’s doubles gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The China Open is taking place for the first time since 2019 after Beijing ditched its strict “zero” COVID-19 policy.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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