No. 2 seed and 2021 champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced to the third round with Thursday’s 6-4, 6-3 win over Sorana Cirstea at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain.
Sabalenka blasted seven aces and converted all five break chances to beat the Romanian and rekindle her confidence on the clay surface.
“It meant a lot,” Sabalenka said. “I proved to myself and everyone else that I can play on clay court and I actually can do well on this surface. So it was a really important win for me and since then I really had this really strong belief in myself on clay courts.”
Sabalenka improved to 24-4 on the season and next faces Colombia’s Camila Osorio, who outlasted Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Fifteen-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva reached the third round by knocking out No. 13 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Andreeva, who turns 16 on Saturday, became just the seventh player under 16 to defeat an opponent ranked in the top 20 in the 21st century. The last player to do so was Coco Gauff against Japan’s Naomi Osaka at the 2020 Australian Open. Haddad Maia is currently ranked No. 14.
Fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France turned in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in 95 minutes.
Gauff, the No. 6 seed, rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the first set to topple Spain’s Irene Burillo Escorihuela 6-4, 6-1. Gauff finished with 16 winners, including four aces.
Gauff will next play No. 26 Paula Badosa of Spain, a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 winner over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus and No. 10 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic fell in straight sets to Germany’s Jule Niemeier 7-6 (9), 6-1.
Spain’s Rebeka Masarova eliminated No. 20 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-1, 7-6 (5).
Shelby Rogers posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ana Bogdan of Romania in one hour, 19 minutes.
Fellow Romanian Irina Begu needed nearly two hours to dispatch Czech Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5.
No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Germany’s Maryna Zanevska, while German Elise Mertens made quick work of Canadian Rebecca Marino 6-3, 6-1.
No. 17 Magda Linette of Poland needed two hours, 42 minutes to oust Czech Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-4.
Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the No. 19 seed, needed just 61 minutes to beat Czech Linda Fruhvirtova 6-0, 6-3.
Mayar Sherif of Egypt upended No. 30 Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-2, 7-6 (3).
–Field Level Media