Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round of the Italian Open after a dominant win over Barbora Krejcikova. tennis news

Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round of the Italian Open with a 6-2 6-3 win over world number 53, Barbora Krejcikova.

His win comes after world no Calls for players to boycott Grand Slams If the tournament organizers do not give players a large portion of the prize pot proceeds.

he Earlier Novak received support from Djokovic and Janic Ciner On Thursday, with the latter demanding that the majors should give players more respect.

Krejcikova, the former world No. 2, was making her long-awaited comeback, having been absent from the WTA Tour since February due to an injury to her left thigh.

But Sabalenka came out of the blocks hitting 26 winners in one hour and 24 minutes.

“I’m very happy to get through,” Sabalenka said before giving her opponent the nod.

“He’s a great player. We’ve had a lot of tough matches in the past.

“He’s such a fighter. Glad to see him back. Glad I played at the level and got this win.”

It was not all plain sailing for the world number one, who had to fight back after Krejcikova broke her in the first game of the first set.

He hit back with a break of his own and followed it up with a second to take a commanding 4-2 lead in the set. Sabalenka took control from there, using some powerful ground strokes to claim back-to-back breaks and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

From there, he stepped on the gas pedal in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead, before saving a break point at 5-2 to see out the match.

The win means Sabalenka will play world number 27 Sorana Cirstia, who beat Tatjana Maria 6-2, 6-0 on Thursday.

The world number one has never won the Italian Open, notably losing to Iga Suitec in the final in 2025.

Elsewhere, Coco Gough progressed to the next round after a 6-3 6-4 win over 19-year-old Tereza Valentova, while Qinwen Zheng battled back to beat Spain’s Christina Buksa 7-6(8-6) 6-2.

Sabalenka shared an inspirational message after winning the Laureus award

During the post-match interview, Sabalenka lifted the lid on being named Sportswoman of the Year at the Laureus Awards in April.

Sabalenka shared an inspirational message for any young women looking to follow in her footsteps.

“It’s an achievement and I’m extremely proud of it,” Sabalenka said. “There are so many great women and athletes – women doing great things.

“It means a lot to me to win this award. This young lady, she was hungry, she was a fighter, she was passionate about this game.

“She’s a hard worker and honestly, (to any younger girl) I would tell them to keep going, and if you’re going to push yourself, you’re going to be at the top.

“I’m very proud of myself and very honored.”

Fernley and Tsitsippus crashed in Rome

After booking a place in the main draw in Rome through qualifying, Britain’s Jacob Fearnley lost to world number 58 Giovanni Mpetschi Pericard 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 2-6 in the first round.

The 24-year-old served 13 double faults, but fought back, forcing the French No. 7 into a tie-break in the first set before bouncing back to claim the second.

In the end, it was Mpetshi Perricard’s strength that edged her to victory, with the 22-year-old breaking from behind to win the final set.

Later in the afternoon, Stefanos Tsitsipas also crashed out of the tournament, losing 4-6 6-7(4-7) to Tomas Machak.

Despite reaching the round of 16 at the ATP1000 in Madrid last week, where he was knocked out by Casper Rudd, Thursday’s defeat indicated that the former world No. 3, Tsitsipas, is still struggling with his game, dropping to No. 75 in the ATP Tour rankings.

Watch the Italian Open in Rome until Sunday, May 17, on Sky Sports or Live Stream with NOW And The Sky Sports app.