Aryna Sabalenka started the 2024 China Open with a victory that pushed her closer to becoming the World No. 1 on the WTA Tour.
The Belarusian player has been the best player on the WTA Tour in the past few months. She opted against playing at the Paris Olympics and traveled to the United States early to start her hard-court season at the Citi Open in Washington.
Coming from an injury, she didn't start that well in Washington, but slowly but surely, she built some crucial momentum, culminating in her winning the Cincinnati Open and adding her third major title at the US Open.
Since then, the World No. 2 player enjoyed some needed rest, but recently assured her fans that she was back practicing, and she returned to action with a very straightforward win in the second round of the 2024 China Open.
As the top seed, she didn't have to play the first round, having a bye, and in the second round, Sabalenka stood against Mananchaya Sawangkaew from Thailand, who is ranked 187th in the world.
Expectedly, Sawangkaew was a huge underdog, but it didn't show in the first set of the match at all. She was broke first, going down 2-4, but the player from Thailand was immediately able to break back and make it 4-4
Still, Sabalenka's experience and quality prevailed. The Belarusian player won the last two game of the opening set, winning it 6-4, and after that, she found also more calmness on her racket.
The Belarusian player still faced a total of three break points in the second set of the match, but this time, she saved them all. On top of that, she also used two of her three chances to break her opponent, and that painted a completely different picture.
After only an hour and 17 minutes of play, Sabalenka won the match 6-4, 6-1 to reach the third round of the 2024 China Open, awaiting the winner of the match between the 29th-seeded Lulu Sun and Ashlyn Krueger.
For Sabalenka, it was a 13th consecutive win, dating back all the way to the start of the Cincinnati Open, and it was clear that she was happy about her performance, even though the start of the match was difficult, especially because of her opponent.
"She’s playing great tennis. The first set she played incredible tennis. It was really difficult playing against her. Especially on this surface in these conditions. I’m happy I was able to manage that set."
"In the second set, everything started coming together. Thank you so much for the support. It’s really amazing to be back here. I’m happy with this win."
For Sabalenka, this match also started the World No. 1 charge. As the defending champion, Iga Swiatek will lose 1,000 points, and since she won't compete in Beijing, she can't add any to her name. That means that with a title run, Sabalenka can get only 284 points behind the Polish player and overtake her in the following weeks.