Swiatek beats Pliskova to enter round of 16

Montreal (IANS). After a tough opening set, Inga Swiatek found her rhythm against Karolina Pliskova to advance to the round of 16 at the Canadian Open here.

With a 7-6(6), 6-2 win against Pliskova on Wednesday night, World No. 1 Inga Swiatek has now won her opening match for the 30th time in a row.

If she wins against Carolina Muchova on Thursday and advances to the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open, Swiatek will retain the top ranking for 72 weeks. No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova posted a 7-5, 6-4 win over Sorana Cristia.

Meanwhile, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka opened her campaign to enter the Round of 16 with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over No. 35 Petra Martic.

Sabalenka, playing her first match since losing to Ons Jabour in the Wimbledon semifinals last month, easily won the first set but fought back for 72 minutes in the second set. Martic was ahead 3-0 and served at 5-3 in the second set. But Sabalenka won by taking the set to a tie-break.

Sabalenka will face 15th seed Lyudmila Samsonova for a place in her 10th quarterfinal of the season.