Aryna Sabalenka nears best winning streak after tough debut at China Open

Aryna Sabalenka is nearing her best winning streak after another victory in her debut at the China Open. The world No. 2 defeated Mananchaya Sawangkaew (No. 187), who made her WTA main draw debut just a week ago at the Thailand Open, and this time qualified for her first appearance at a WTA 1000.

The Belarusian played her first match since winning the US Open and extended her winning streak to 13 consecutive victories, including her title at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open.

The Thai player put up a fight against Sabalenka, especially in the first set, but the 3-time Grand Slam champion showed her class to come through a match where she was far from her best, winning 6-4, 6-1: “She’s [Sawangkaew] playing some great tennis, the first set she played incredible,” said Sabalenka on court. “It was difficult playing against her, especially on this surface with these ball conditions.”

“But I was happy I managed that set, and it seems like in the second set everything started to come together. I started playing much better. It’s amazing to be back in Beijing, and I’m happy with this win,” she added.

The 2-time Australian Open champion extended her streak to 13 consecutive victories and is approaching her best record of 15 consecutive wins between 2020 and 2021. At the end of 2020, Sabalenka won two consecutive titles at the Ostrava Open and Linz Open and began the 2021 season in the best way by taking the title in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year.

Sabalenka’s streak ended at the Gippsland Trophy, where the 'giant killer' Kaia Kanepi took the victory 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. During those 15 consecutive victories, Sabalenka lost only four sets. In her current streak of 13 consecutive wins, she has only lost one set, so if she equals the streak at 15, she will have done so with fewer sets conceded (a maximum of three).

The top seed still faces a couple of challenges, as her next opponent will be Ashlyn Krueger (No. 68), who just defeated New Zealand’s Lulu Zun (No. 38). If Sabalenka advances, a potential Round of 16 match could be against Madison Keys (No. 24) or Beatriz Haddad Maia (No. 12).

Sabalenka has already had great performances in China. Four of Sabalenka's 16 titles have been in the country, including Shenzhen (2019), twice at the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open (2018, 2019), and the WTA Elite Trophy (2019) in Zhuhai. The world No. 2 is in contention for the top ranking against Iga Swiatek, and winning the title in Beijing would bring her within 300 points of the Polish player.

After defeating Krueger, Sabalenka commented that she has high expectations for her performance this week in China: “I’m super happy to be back in Beijing, and I have a lot of great memories from Beijing and China. I’ll do my best in each match, and hopefully, I can get to the very last stage of the tournament.”