No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka took a step towards her moment occupation Grand Slam identify with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jodie Burrage of Nice Britain on the U.S. Open in New York on Thursday.
The Belarusian posted the second-round win in 76 mins at the back of seven aces and a 93 p.c first-serve win proportion. She transformed 3 of 4 ruin possibilities and hit 28 winners and 22 unforced mistakes, in comparison to seven and 11, respectively, for Burrage.
Within the 3rd around, Sabalenka will face Clara Burel of France, who eradicated Czech Karolina Pliskova, the No. 25 seed, 6-4, 6-2. Sabalaneka can be having a look to bookend her season with Grand Slam victories, successful 2023’s first main on the Australian Open and looking for the identify in New York on the season’s ultimate main.
A win on the U.S. Open additionally would vault Sabalenka to No. 1 on this planet scores, displacing Iga Swiatek of Poland. In a pre-tournament information convention, Sabalenka mentioned she wasn’t being pushed through the scores.
“I am specializing in myself greater than at the rating,” she mentioned. “I am looking to shift my focal point on myself, on my sport, and on bettering myself.”
3 different seeded ladies have been in early second-round motion on Thursday, all winners.
No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia defeated German Tamara Korpatsch 6-3, 6-3; No. 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia ousted Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3; and No. 23 Qinwen Zheng of China crowned Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Different winners have been Italian Lucia Bronzetti, American Peyton Stearns and Brit Katie Boulter.
—Box Stage Media
