MADRID (AP) — Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka faced tough resistance in her opening match at the Madrid Open before beating Magda Linette 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Friday. The second-ranked Sabalenka struggled with her serve at times, but the two-time Australian Open winner struck her 10th ace on match point at the Caja Magica in Spain’s capital. Sabalenka got some help from the net to get a key break and go up 5-3 in the third set when Linette was unable to reach a shot by the Belarusian that clipped the top of the tape. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek won her opening match on Thursday. Sabalenka beat Swiatek in last year’s final in Madrid and also won here in 2021. Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-3, while American Ashlyn Krueger downed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-3. Mirra Andreeva, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Carolina Garcia, and Jasmine Paolini also advanced. |
Chess Preview: China's world champion Ding seeking first Asian Games goldIn pics: sailing race at 19th Asian GamesScientific herding improves yield, environmentA's rally from 5 runs down, beat Nats 7Relics spanning over 4,000 years unearthed in China's ZhejiangTraditional Ewenki handicrafts hot souvenirs amid thriving winter tourism30 days to go, anticipation for impending Hangzhou Asian Games runs high across AsiaZheng Qinwen stopped in U.S. Open quarterfinals, Wang Xinyu into doubles semisChina launches new remote sensing satelliteMain Media Center of Hangzhou Asian Games starts trial operation