World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka overcame a tight opening set Wednesday before settling in to defeat Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (4), 6-4 and reach the third round of Wimbledon, extending her run of early-round success in majors.
Sabalenka has now reeled off 32 consecutive wins during the first week of Grand Slam events — before the round of 16 — dating back to the 2022 US Open. She has won 64 of the 67 sets she’s played in those matches.
Her opponent Bouzkova, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2022, had been the most efficient at converting break points this season, doing so on 54% of those chances to lead the WTA Tour. Against Sabalenka, Bouzkova converted her only break point opportunity of the match when Sabalenka double-faulted to give Bouzkova a 5-6 lead in the first set.
A frustrated Sabalenka let out a scream when she failed to convert a break point in the next game, but the 27-year-old quickly composed herself to force a tiebreak with a backhand winner on her next opportunity.
“That was a tough moment in the match,” Sabalenka said. “I was just trying to put the ball back on that side and then hope that I’d be able to break her back, because until that point, my returns weren’t great enough to break her serve and I’m really glad everything clicked.
“I felt a bit better in that moment and I think that’s why I was able to win the tiebreak and get the win in straight sets.”
Sabalenka has made the third round or better in each of the last 17 majors she has played; the only woman with a longer active streak is Iga Swiatek, who has done so at every major since the start of 2020.
Sabalenka said she was focused on avoiding the upset bug after No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Qinwen Zheng and No. 9 Paula Badosa were all sent packing in the first round.
“Honestly, it’s very sad to see so many top players losing in the first round, but you’re better off focusing on yourself and staying away from the results,” Sabalenka said. “Of course, you’re going to know the overall picture, but it’s better just to take it one step at a time and do your best every time you’re out here competing.”
In other women’s singles results Wednesday, Britain’s Sonay Kartal defeated Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.
“I felt good on court today. I was hitting it really clean. It was one of those good days at the office,” Kartal said.
Also advancing was Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who took down No. 29 seed Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-3.
ESPN Research and Reuters contributed to this report.
