Aryna Sabalenka continued her fine Asian swing form with an opening round victory at the China Open, and moved just two wins away from matching the best winning run of her career.
World No 2 Sabalenka had not played since her US Open title victory at the beginning of the month and there was evident rust early on in her round two clash against Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
The Thai qualifier, currently ranked 187th in the world, did not make life easy for the Belarusian in the first set, though once Sabalenka was able to pull through it, she hit a new gear.
It was not a perfect display from the three-time Grand Slam champion, though ultimately she sealed a largely comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win.
“She’s [Sawangkaew] playing some great tennis, the first set she played incredible,” said Sabalenka on court. “It was difficult playing against her, especially on this surface with these ball conditions.
“But I was happy I was able to manage that set, and it seems like in the second set everything started getting together. I started playing much better. It’s amazing to be back in Beijing and I’m happy with this win.
“I’m super happy to be back in Beijing and I have a lot of great memories from Beijing, and from China. I’ll do my best in each match and hopefully, I can get to the very last stage of the tournament.”
Victory for Sabalenka means she has now won 13 matches in a row.
The former world No 1 lost in the quarter-final of the Canadian Open but then won five matches on her way to a first Cincinnati Open title, and then seven matches in New York to win her third major.
Should she win two more matches and reach a second straight quarter-final in Beijing, she would match her previous best win streak of 15 matches, which she achieved across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Sabalenka will face either 29th seed Lulu Sun or Ashlyn Krueger in round three.
This opening victory in Beijing also extends Sabalenka’s fine form at Chinese tournaments, with the Belarusian having previously found huge success in the nation.
Four of her 16 WTA Titles have come in the country, more titles than any other active WTA player.
This win in Beijing was her 38th in China since she made her first tournament appearance in the country at the Tianjin Open in 2017 – more than any other WTA player in that period.
Sabalenka has also won 18 of her first 21 matches at WTA 1000-level events in China, again a better record than anyone has achieved.
Her best result in Beijing was her quarter-final run a year ago, though she is a two-time champion at the Wuhan Open, which returns this year following a five-year absence.
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