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
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
SLOW START: The Warriors took nearly five minutes to score their first points, finally breaking through when Jimmy Butler put in a three-pointer to make it 13-3 Julius Randle on Thursday had 24 points and 11 assists to help the Minnesota Timberwolves capitalize on the absence of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry in a 117-93 victory that tied the second-round NBA series at a game apiece. The Timberwolves were stewing over their rough start in Game 1 against Golden State, a reaction that coach Chris Finch said he was pleased to see. The foundation was laid in an ornery film session with Finch and his staff the day before. “He was unhappy and he let us know he was unhappy, and we felt that,” Randle said. “We were pretty
RSS