WTA Toronto: ‘Freer’ Sabalenka cruises into round of 16, faces Boulter next

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, advanced to the last 16 of the Toronto Masters by winning against Chinese Yue Yuan 6-2, 6-2 at the Aviva Centre on Thursday.

Sabalenka, ranked No 3, will face Katie Boulter next.

The Belarusian pulled out of Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury. Although she played last week in Washington, she said she was still a bit wary about re-injuring her shoulder until her matches this week.

“That’s been really tricky to play the first tournament, because you are overprotective,” Sabalenka said as quoted by the WTA Tour. “You’re trying not to overdo stuff, you are protecting your shoulder, and I think that creates more tension. I was super sore in Washington, and coming here we did a lot of recovery, a lot of mobility stretches.  Now I feel much better with my shoulder, I realize that I don’t have to protect it, that it’s done, it’s clean, I can go for it without fear that I can get injured again. Right now I feel more free on court and nothing bothering me there and it’s out of my mind, so it means that I can stay focused on the game and just compete and do my best.”

Yuan, ranked No 42, defeated Spaniard Cristina Bucsa (6-3, 6-3) in the previous round of the Rogers Cup.

Toronto WTA 1000, other second-round results (Aviva Centre, hard, USD 3.211.715, most recent results first):

• Naomi Osaka vs. Elise Mertens: friday
• Victoria Azarenka vs. Greet Minnen: thursday
• Jelena Ostapenko (4) beat Paula Badosa: 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Amanda Anisimova beat Daria Kasatkina (5): 6-4, 6-3
• Katie Boulter beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (13): 1-1 ret.
• Peyton Stearns beat Madison Keys (7): 3-6, 7-5, 3-0 ret.
• Ashlyn Krueger (Q) beat Leylah Fernandez (15): 6-4, 6-2
• Emma Navarro (8) beat Magda Linette: 6-2, 6-4
• Taylor Townsend (LL) beat Marina Stakusic (WC): 6-0, 6-2
• Liudmila Samsonova (6) beat Moyuka Uchijima (Q): 6-4, 6-2
• Coco Gauff (1) beat Yafan Wang (Q): 6-4, 6-4
• Anna Kalinskaya (10) beat Lesia Tsurenko: 6-2, 6-2
• Marta Kostyuk (11) beat Elina Svitolina: 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
• Diana Shnaider (14) beat Magdalena Frech: 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Jessica Pegula (3) beat Karolina Pliskova: 7-5, 6-4

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