Osaka, Sabalenka move on at 2021 Madrid Open

slNaomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka made winning starts at the 2021 Madrid Open taking down their opponents in straight sets.

Sabalenka was the first on the courts kicking things off for the day with a match at 11:00 CET. She was playing Zvonareva and the Belarussian had no issues against the Russian taking her down 6-1 6-2 67 minutes of play. Sabalenka reached the final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and she continued her dominant display her dictating the tempo of play with her aggressive playstyle.

Zvonareva could not counter her in rallies and they ended pretty quickly with Sabalenka hitting a winner or forcing Zvonareva into an error. She will face tough opposition in R2 with either Begu or Kasatkina.

Jining her in the 2nd round will be Naomi Osaka who proved better than compatriot Misaki Doi whom she defeated 7-5 6-2. It was a shaky start for Osaka who lost her serve initially going down 2-0 before finding a rhythm and asserting her own playstyle. She would serve for the first set at 5-4 but Doi was able to pull it back only to lose the set 7-5 after all.

Osaka played much better in the 2nd set as she got more familiar with the conditions and clay in general. She has not excelled on the surface in the past and usually avoided it when she could. This season she decided to finally embrace it and it showed in the 2nd set which she won 6-2.