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In what’s her first event since she became the no. 1 player in the world, Aryna Sabalenka bested Sofia Kenin. At the China Open on Sunday, Sabalenka got through to the second round with a 6-1, 6-2 win for herself after merely an hour and seven minutes of play.
Kenin had recently made an impressive resurgence on the circuit and had even made it to the finals in San Diego (l. to Barbora Krejcikova) and semi-finals in Guadalajara. But Sabalenka had other plans to keep the American at bay in their clash.
Kenin had seven winners across the match but Sabalenka finished with more than thrice that number, at 22. The 25-year-old converted four break points that came her way on Kenin’s serve and kept her serve impeccable so as to not face any break points herself.
Of the 23 points she put in on her first serve, Sabalenka won 22. She also 11 of 16 points played on her second serve. On return, Sabalenka won 55% of first-serve return points and 58% of second-serve return points. Apart from Sabalenka, two other seeded players who played their first-round matches, crashed out.
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