DOHA: Top seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the third round of the Qatar Open at the Khalifa International Complex on Tuesday.
While the Belarusian had an easy 6-2 6-2 win over France’s Alizé Cornet, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur was stretched a bit in her 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over another Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
“It definitely wasn’t easy. It was a really tough match. She played really well, she pushed me a lot,” Sabalenka said on-court in victory.
“I expected long rallies in this match and I prepared myself for this kind of rallies. The tactic was just to stay in the point as long as I can, push her as much as I can, and to serve well.”
In other matches, Iga Swiatek overcame Viktorija Golubic while Jelena Ostapenko held off Amanda Anisimova and Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula also advanced but former champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew due to injury.
