Aryna Sabalenka was looking to get back on track after her stunning loss to Hailey Baptiste in Madrid, and she did just that with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Barbora Krejcikova in 1 hour and 24 minutes on Thursday to reach the third round in Rome.
Rome: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Playing the last match of the day on Campo Centrale, Sabalenka extended her dominance in the head-to-head, improving to 7-1 against the two-time Grand Slam champion at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.
“I’m super happy to be through,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “She’s a great player. We’ve had a lot of tough matches in the past. She’s such a fighter and I’m happy to see her back. I’m happy with the level I played at to get this tough win.”
Krejcikova — playing in Rome for the first time since 2023 — broke to open the match, but that would be the last time Sabalenka trailed. She quickly found her footing to break back for 1-1 and, after Krejcikova held for 2-2, reeled off the next four games to claim the first set in 37 minutes.
The second set brought more of the same. Sabalenka sealed a break for 3-1 with an overhead winner and didn’t let up from there, closing with a love hold to set up a third-round meeting with No. 26 seed Sorana Cirstea.
Here’s how she got it done.
Mistake-free tennis: It was a clean performance from Sabalenka, who had five unforced errors in the first set and finished with just 13 for the match. Krejcikova kept her own error count relatively low at 17, but seven double faults proved costly.
Three of those came in the second game of the match, gifting Sabalenka the break for 1-1 and setting the stage for the dominant stretch she used to close out the first set. Sabalenka also outperformed the Czech across the board on serve, landing nearly 64% of her first serves, winning 76% of those points, and taking 58% of her second-serve points.
Shot selection showcase: That clean brand of tennis produced 26 winners for Sabalenka, double her unforced-error total. With both the forehand and backhand working, she was able to showcase the variety in her game, mixing in the drop shot and slice effectively as needed.
Whether at the net or the baseline, Sabalenka seemed to have the right answer for every moment. Holding a break point at 3-2 in the first set, she ripped a forehand winner. On game point in the opening game of the second set, she put away an overhead winner for the hold. Then, facing break point two games later, she saved it with a backhand down the line before securing another hold.
What’s next: After losing her first matchup against Cirstea, Sabalenka has won the past two meetings, including a straight-sets win in Brisbane in January. All three matches have been decided in straight sets.
And how is this for a fun fact? All six sets have finished either 6-3 or 6-4.
