Madrid, April 26 (HS): World number 1 Aryna Sabalenka initiated her Madrid Open title defense with an impressive win over Russia’s Anna Blinkova, defeating her 6-3, 6-4 in the second round, marking Sabalenka’s 18th victory in the tournament (with just 4 losses). Winner of the title in both 2021 and 2023, and a finalist against Swiatek in 2022, Sabalenka took a commanding 5-0 lead early in the match. Despite dropping one break, she closed out the first set in 48 minutes on her first set point. The second set saw her maintain dominance after an early break. Next, she faces either Elise Mertens or Colombia’s Camila Osorio. Although all her Grand Slam titles have been on hard courts, Sabalenka has shown strength on clay, but found challenges at the French Open, hoping to eventually add that trophy to her collection.

In notable tournaments, 2022 champion Ons Jabeur was ousted in the first round by Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, while Maria Sakkari advanced to the third round after defeating 29th seed Magda Linette.

On the men’s side, Alexander Zverev overpowered Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut with a decisive 6-2, 6-2 victory and expressed his admiration for the Madrid court, calling it his favorite. He will next play against Nuno Borges or Davidovich Fokina.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, last year’s finalist, suffered a first-round loss to Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo, potentially impacting his top 25 ranking, while other Argentine players continued to shine in the tournament. Also, former junior champion Arthur Fils critiqued the new electronic line calling technology used on clay courts for its accuracy.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar