ISLAMABAD: The champion of the Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka easily advanced to the third round of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters 1000 by defeating Evgeniya Rodina with a score of 6-2, 6-0.
Aryna, playing just her second tournament since she lifted her first Grand Slam trophy in Melbourne in January 2023, needed just 65 minutes to dispatch Rodina, who was playing her 8th match since returning to competition at the US Open the previous year after taking three years away on a second maternity leave.
Aryna admitted she did not even remember that she had played Rodina before, in Tashkent in 2017, Aryna was pleased to get through with little issue in a tournament where she has never made it past the round of 16.
Russia’s Rodina, who dispatched France’s Alize Cornet in the first round of the game, offered little resistance. Aryna converted five of her 12 break chances and saved all four break points she faced.
Aryna Sabalenka still barred…
Aryna, still barred from playing under her native flag of Belarus because of the Russian/Ukraine war, next faces Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine who beat 29th-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-2. 6-2.
Tsurenko has won four WTA titles and reached the final of the Thailand Open in February.
