Sabalenka survives scare to reach China Open third round

BEIJING: World number one Aryna Sabalenka survived a major scare on her way to the third round of the China Open, eventually defeating unseeded Katie Boulter 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) in Beijing on Tuesday.

Sabalenka saved seven break points at 5-5 and then forced the stubborn Briton, ranked 56th in the world, into a rare backhand error to clinch the opening set.

The Belarusian notched another must-win break in the second set to again draw level at 5-5 before triumphing in a tie-break by slamming down an unreturned serve.

She will battle Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the next round for a place in the quarterfinals.

World number four Jessica Pegula bounced back from a set down on Tuesday to beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-1.

France’s world number 10 Caroline Garcia suffered a second-set wobble before downing Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Agencies

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