ROME: Aryna Sabalenka breezed into the third round of the Italian Open on Thursday with a straight-sets win over Barbora Krejcikova, 6-2, 6-3.&nbsp;World number one and favourite for the women&#39;s title in the Italian capital, Sabalenka took one hour and 25 minutes to see off Czech Krejcikova in the final match of the day on centre court.&nbsp;Sabalenka has never won the Italian Open. Her run to the final two years ago, when she was lost to Iga Swiatek, her best result.&nbsp;But with the French Open around the corner, the Belorussian made no mistake against Krejcikova, a former Wimbledon and French Open champion.&nbsp;Sabalenka lost the first game on her serve, but from there comfortably dealt with Krejcikova to set up a match with Sorana Cirstea in the next round.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m super happy to be through. She&#39;s a great player. We had a lot of tough matches in the past,&quot; Sabalenka said on court.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m of course happy with the level I played and to get this tough win.&quot;&nbsp;The top seed is on the same side of the draw as Coco Gauff, who beat Sabalenka in last year&#39;s French Open final and made short work of Tereza Valentova in her opening match of the tournament.&nbsp;American star Gauff beat Valentova 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 34 minutes in front of a sparsely-populated centre court, and will play Argentine Solana Sierra in the next round.&nbsp;Earlier, Jasmine Paolini launched her title defence by battling back from a set down to beat France&#39;s Leolia Jeanjean 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4.&nbsp;Paolini throughHome hope Paolini is bidding to become the first Italian woman to retain the title in Rome, but started slowly at the Foro Italico.&nbsp;The world number eight turned on the afterburners after going behind following an error-strewn first set, comfortably turning around the match to secure a spot in the third round, where she will meet Elise Mertens.&nbsp;&quot;This match was a bit of up and downs, for sure. But I remember last year, I mean, also a lot of up and downs during the tournament,&quot; said Paolini.&nbsp;Paolini&#39;s compatriot Matteo Berrettini fell at the first hurdle, 6-2, 6-3, to Alexei Popyrin, a defeat which will see the former Wimbledon finalist drop out of the top 100 in the men&#39;s rankings.&nbsp;The Rome native has had a hideous time with abdominal injuries in recent years, and since the start of the season -- when he had to pull out of the Australian Open -- he has won just nine matches and lost 10.&nbsp;&quot;It was a pretty bad day, I had no energy, and I wasn&#39;t able to use the energy of the crowd,&quot; said Berrettini.&nbsp;&quot;This year started in a particular way, and the only way I can move forward is to accept that there will be days like this.&quot;&nbsp;Another Italian in Lorenzo Sonego was dumped out at the first time of asking, the 30-year-old seen off in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 by Peru&#39;s Ignacio Buse on centre court.

Tennis

Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the Italian Open third round with a straight-sets win, while Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini also progressed; Italian men suffered early exits.
 

Articles tagged with "Italian Open"

Sabalenka, champion Paolini open Italian Open accounts

Sabalenka, champion Paolini open Italian Open accounts