World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka saved 12 break points to survive her Cincinnati opener against Czech Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday, as the men's defending champion Jannik Sinner cruised past Colombian qualifier Daniel Galan 6-1, 6-1.
Sabalenka, who had a first-round bye, had not played since her semifinal defeat at Wimbledon and said the downtime served her well as she mounted a tremendous defensive effort to set up a meeting with Britain's Emma Raducanu.
"I played so many matches this season so I'm quite experienced to handle those key moments," Sabalenka told Tennis Channel. "Key for me is always to go for it without doubting my decisions. So far it's been working really well."
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