World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka saved 12 break points to survive her Cincinnati opener against Czech Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday, as the men¡¯s defending champion Jannik Sinner cruised past Colombian qualifier Daniel Galan 6-1, 6-1.
Sabalenka, who had a first-round bye, had not played since her semifinal defeat at Wimbledon and said the downtime served her well as she mounted a tremendous defensive effort to set up a meeting with Britain¡¯s Emma Raducanu.
¡°I played so many matches this season so I¡¯m quite experienced to handle those key moments,¡± Sabalenka told Tennis Channel. ¡°Key for me is always to go for it without doubting my decisions. So far it¡¯s been working really well.¡±
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