Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, ranked first in the world, crushed American Sofia Kenin 6-1, 6-2, on Sunday, and reached the second round of the Beijing Tennis Championships (500).
According to Agence France-Presse, Sabalenka showered her opponent with a barrage of aces and powerful blows to win the first set after only 23 minutes.
The 25-year-old Belarusian broke Kenin’s serve twice more in the second set, while the latter, who was wearing a strap on her left thigh, failed to respond.
Sabalenka concluded the match with a strong serve that the American was unable to return, setting up a match in the second round with the winner of the match between Polish Magdalena Frisch and British Katie Poulter.
Sabalenka said after the match, “Frankly, I did not expect to play well on my serve, especially since I did not succeed in doing so during training.”
She continued, “But I felt very happy because I was able to serve at this level.” “I think that helped me a lot.”
She added, “I think this was the key to today’s match.”
The top eight players in the world are participating in the current version of the Beijing tournament, and Poland’s Iga Swiwontek, ranked second in the world, who was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo tournament in Japan, is scheduled to play with Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The Beijing tournament will be held for the first time since 2019 after the country ended its isolationist policies to get rid of the repercussions of the Corona virus. The women’s tournament will also be held for the first time since the game’s governing body decided to end the boycott of China this year after the case of Chinese player Peng Shuai, the former world number one doubles player, who filed sexual assault accusations against a senior government official.
2023-10-01 11:20:06
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