Sabalenka cruises past Paolini and reaches Upper Austria Ladies' next round

The final match of the day at the Upper Austria Ladies' Linz was between Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini.

The start of the match was not good for Aryna who quickly found herself being down 1-4 after Paolini broke her serve early. It wasn't something unfamiliar for Sabalenka who had similar issues in the early stages in Ostrava where she seemed unbothered by it. A similar thing happened here as well as Sabalenka immediately raised her level which allowed her to go on a great run where she won four games in a row taking the 5-4 lead. She then proceeded to win the next game as well clinching the opening set 6-4.

Boosted by that brilliant comeback in the opening set Sabalenka started off the 2nd set much better. In the opening game, she had a break point but failed to use it. Later in the set, she had some more break points but once again Paolini held on. The Italian even forced break points of her own in the next game but Aryna remained calm and won the game. A very lengthy game ensued where Sabalenka had multiple break points and while Paolini saved several of them she ultimately lost her serve giving Aryna the lead.

She then went on to finish off the match with a 6-4 2nd set victory to start off her Linz journey in strong fashion.