TORONTO: World number one Aryna Sabalenka returned to her hard court comfort zone with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in the WTA 1000 in Toronto on Tuesday.

It was a solid start for Sabalenka in her bid to bounce back after falling in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

The Belarusian star has dominated on hard courts this year and on Tuesday notched her 24th win in 25 matches on the surface. The lone defeat was her loss to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final.

Now she’s eyeing a North American hard court run that could include a three-peat at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year that starts on Aug 30 in New York.

Sabalenka didn’t have it all her own way against the 111th-ranked Uchijima.

But she emerged from an exchange of five breaks of serve that opened the second set with a 3-2 lead and made the advantage stand up.

She held for 4-2, and when she had her first chance to serve it out she pounced, sealing the match on her second match point with an overhead winner.

Uchijima had surprised the Belarusian in the opening game of the match, clawing back from 40-15 down to break on the way to a quick 2-0 lead.

But Sabalenka won the next five games and polished off the opening set with a confident hold of serve.

In the third round she’ll face China’s Zhang Shuai, who was leading Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 4-0 when the Latvian retired from their match.

Former world number one Iga Swiatek survived some nervy moments to launch her US Open build-up with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Sara Bejlek.

Poland’s seventh-seeded Swiatek was rolling through the first nine games, appearing in total control with a double-break for a 3-0 lead in the second.

But her Czech opponent dug in and disrupted Swiatek’s rhythm, winning two straight games before Swiatek pulled off a great escape — fending off nine break points in a 22-minute sixth game to hold serve for a 4-2 lead.

She’ll continue her quest to change that when she takes on Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Croatian Donna Vekic.

Eighth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova reached the third round by walkover when scheduled opponent Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand withdrew because of illness.

Ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina rallied from a set and a break down to beat Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-7(5/7), 7-6(7/4), 6-4.

And 10th-seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, shook off a slow start to beat Canadian wild card Katherine Sebov 7-6(7/4), 6-0.

Kostyuk next faces former Australian Open champion Madison Keys.

DE MINAUR FIGHTS PAST DUCKWORTH

At the ATP Montreal Masters on Tuesday, Alex de Minaur blew through the opening set but needed some good luck in the second to emerge with a 6-2, 7-6(8/6) opening win over James Duckworth.

De Minaur, seeded third, hasn’t lost to a fellow Aussie in four years, but he was made to work hard by his 86th-ranked compatriot to keep that streak alive.

The second-round match turned in an instant in the second-set tiebreaker when a return which rolled off the top of the net handed de Minaur a match point after he saved six set points for his opponent.

In other second-round action China’s Shang Juncheng — only just returned from months away because of injury — scored the first notable upset of the week with 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7/5) defeat of 10th seed Andrey Rublev.

Shang saved five match points, on his way to the third round, breaking Rublev as he served for the match at 5-3 in the third and hanging on to win a seven-deuce service game.

Former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas regained some of the touch lost during a recent rankings slump, with the high-profile qualifier dispatching Martin Damm 6-4, 6-4 in a first-round match delayed by rain.

The 98-minute victory sends Tsitsipas into a match with Brazilian Joao Fonseca.

Hubert Hurkacz, a 2022 finalist in Montreal, beat Marcos Giron 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 while Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann downed sixth seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/2).

Britain’s Jakob Fearnley, who reached the final of a hard court Challenger last month, advanced past French veteran Adrian Mannarino 7-6(7/3), 6-4, overcoming more than 30 unforced errors to book a meeting with 13th seeded Czech Jakub Mensik.

Fellow Brit Jack Draper shed bitter tears as his latest injury comeback collapsed in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 loss to France’s Terrance Atmane, who delivered an ace on match point.

Draper, who had not played a match since Eastbourne in June, was consoled at the net by his victorious opponent.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who reached the final in Los Cabos at the weekend, was disappointed to retire with an ankle injury to hand a 4-6, 6-4, 3-0 victory to Zachary Svajda.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026