Defending champions Sinner and Sabalenka start with wins in Cincinnati

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka demonstrated their credentials as world number one tennis players by debuting this Saturday with resounding victories in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 and WTA 1000, which saw two favorites, Norwegian Casper Ruud and Italian Lorenzo Musetti, be seen off.

The men's and women's top seeds at the tournament were competing for the first time since Wimbledon , where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the semifinals.

Sinner dominated Colombian Daniel Galán with a doubles 6-1 in the warm and humid afternoon, while Sabalenka overcame 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5 and 6-1 under the lights of the night session.

Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a break of serve in the final game, capped by a resounding winner, to take the first set.

The second set was more closely contested than the scoreboard indicated, as Sabalenka saved five break points to consolidate her 4-1 lead and recovered from 0-30 down in the final game before securing the victory.

" It's always a tough match against her ," Sabalenka said of the Czech opponent she has faced nine times.

"She pushed me to the limit. If you lose focus even a little, it can cost you a set. I had to fight for every point against her," added Sabalenka, who will now face Britain's Emma Raducanu, who defeated Olga Danilovic 6-3, 6-2.

For Sinner, it was also his twenty-second consecutive victory on hard courts, a streak that began after losing the Beijing final in September to his great rival, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.

"I'm very happy because it's not easy to play here," he emphasized. "I felt my serve was good at times, but there are things I can improve."

The new Wimbledon winner valued his triumph in the heat of Cincinnati (Ohio), in whose third round he will face the Canadian Gabriel Diallo (35), executioner of the Argentine Sebastián Báez (43rd) by 7-5, 6-4.

Sinner also extended his winning streak to eight consecutive matches since the Wimbledon title against Alcaraz and to 38 victories against opponents outside the Top 50.

Several surprises

Elsewhere, eleventh seed Casper Ruud lost 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2 to Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

The Norwegian (13) was the victim of 34 unforced errors and lost his serve on four occasions, without being able to stop the comeback of his opponent, number 70 in the ranking.

Seventh seed Holger Rune won his first match 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) against Russian Roman Safiullin (80) and will now face American Alex Michelsen, who defeated Frenchman Corentin Moutet (44) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, defeated Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 7-6 (7/3) and 6-2.

In the third round, Tsitsipas will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (63), who defeated Lorenzo Musetti (10), the eighth seed, in one of the first surprises of the tournament, by 5-7, 6-4 and 7-6 (7/4).

Brazilian Joao Fonseca (52) advanced with a partial of 6-7 (4/7), 5-4 after the retirement of Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (18) in the second set.

"He wasn't playing at his level in the second set, I didn't know what was happening, but I wish him all the best for the rest of the year," Fonseca said.

Swiatek progresses smoothly

In WTA 1000 action, Poland's Iga Swiatek had no major problems in her debut, defeating Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-1, 6-4.

The world number three has reached the semi-finals in the last two editions, but Cincinnati remains one of only two 1000-level tournaments—along with Canada—where she has never reached a final.

The third seed advanced to the third round in just 74 minutes, saving four of the five break points she faced.

With her victory, the Pole has now won 64 consecutive matches at the start of a WTA competition, equaling Monica Seles ' record, set between 1990 and 1996.

The Spanish Jessica Bouzas (49th), meanwhile, surprised everyone by winning 6-3 over the Canadian of Ecuadorian origin Leylah Fernández (26th).

Brazilian Bia Haddad (21st), the best racket in South America and eighteenth favorite, lost instead to the young Australian Maya Joint (44th) by 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Renata Zarazúa made history by becoming the first Mexican to reach the second round of the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati.

The world number 70 fell in a competitive match against Elena Rybakina (10) by 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.