MONTREAL: The World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka kicked off her Canadian Open 2023 campaign by beating No.35 Petra Martic 6-3, 7-6(5) to advance to the Round of 16.
Sabalenka will lock horns with 15th seed Liudmila Samsonova for a spot in her 10th quarterfinal of the season.
Sabalenka breezed through the first set before having to fight back in a 72-minute second set, her first match since falling in the Wimbledon quarterfinals to Ons Jabeur last month. Martic had a 3-0 lead and was serving for the second set at 5-3.
The World No. 2 retaliated by pushing into her weaponry to break Martic at love and reclaim her serve. Sabalenka rallied from 3-1 behind in the tiebreak to win the 1-hour, 58-minute match.
“Especially on this surface, I was really struggling with all her slices. I think I need some time to adjust to this surface. I hope the next match I will play a little bit better, but overall, I’m just happy to get through this tough match,” WTA.com quoted Sabalenka as saying.
Sabalenka won the match with 38 winners, 13 aces, and 34 unforced errors. Martic played the better match, although she was limited to 13 wins and 17 unforced errors.
“I would say the conditions are a little bit tricky. I was practicing in Florida and the bounce was completely different. I remember in US Open and Cincinnati the ball bounces high. Here the ball is not bouncing at all. So it’s a little tricky to play here but I hope to adjust and play my best tennis,” Sabalenka said.
In the day’s last match, 2012 champion Petra Kvitova defeated 2021 champion Camila Giorgi 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. Kvitova served for the second set but immediately recovered to win. Kvitova will face No.12 Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16. (ANI)