Victoria Azarenka reached a career milestone with her straight-sets victory in the opening round of the Canadian Open on Tuesday.

She overcame Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-2 to book her place in the round of 32 in one hour and 17 minutes in Toronto.

In the process, Azarenka became the first player to claim 150 straight-set wins at WTA-1000 events, excluding retirements, since the format's introduction in 2009.

The Belarusian already had the most straight-set wins at WTA-1000 events, but now has 18 more than second-place Agnieszka Radwanska (132).

Azarenka is chasing her first title at the Canadian Open, having reached the semi-finals twice in her previous 11 appearances.

Aryna Sabalenka expressed her delight at overcoming a "tough" match with Victoria Azarenka to advance to the semi-finals of the Washington Open in straight sets. 

World number three Sabalenka needed an hour and 45 minutes to get past her fellow compatriot, prevailing 6-4 6-4 to progress to the next round. 

The two-time grand slam champion served eight aces compared to Azarenka's one, and although the encounter looked one-sided, it was anything but for Sabalenka. 

"Always tough battles against her," Sabalenka said. "She always brings the best fight she can.

"I always enjoy playing against her. Just super happy to get through this tough match.

"I feel like with every set, I play better and better. Hopefully I can just (keep) building my level and by the US Open, I'll be 100 percent ready."

Sabalenka claimed her second Australian Open title earlier this year, but was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon with a shoulder problem. 

However, the Belarusian showed no signs of injuries in the American capital and is confident of maintaining her recent form. 

"I'm super happy. I'm doing really great so far. Fingers crossed, the injury's in the past. I feel really good," Sabalenka said. 

"We're doing everything we can with my team to keep my shoulder strong and make sure (such an injury) will never happen again."

Top seed Sabalenka advanced to Saturday's semi-final where she will meet Marie Bouzkova, who beat 19-year-old American Robin Montgomery in straight sets. 

Jessica Pegula's all-American Berlin Open semi-final clash with Coco Gauff has been suspended overnight, as the duo vie for a spot in the final against Anna Kalinskaya.

Pegula led Gauff 7-5 6-6 (3-1) when rain in the German capital halted play on Saturday, with a later announcement confirming the match will not resume until Sunday.

Both players had already taken to the court once on Saturday, as Gauff's last-eight opponent Ons Jabeur retired due to illness after losing a 68-minute opening set 7-6 (11-9). 

Pegula, meanwhile, wrapped up a two-day quarter-final victory over Katerina Siniakova by a 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-3 scoreline.

The winner of the pair's match will also have to play twice on Sunday, with Kalinskaya lying in wait in the final after she beat former world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-1.

Data Debrief: Kalinskaya primed for an upset?

Whoever emerges victorious on Sunday morning, Kalinskaya will face a top-five player, with Gauff currently second in the world rankings and Pegula fifth.

Kalinskaya has already recorded three top-five victories this year. She lost her only previous meeting with Pegula in Washington D.C. in 2019 but won her first clash with Gauff in Dubai earlier this year.

Aryna Sabalenka is through to her second Italian Open semi-final after a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday.

The Belarusian, who recovered from a lower back injury sustained in her previous match against Elina Svitolina, breezed through 6-2, 6-4 after just 72 minutes on the court.

Sabalenka broke her serve in the third and fifth games, with Ostapenko opening the door with two double faults, while a single break in the seventh game settled the second set.

The second seed almost let it slip with her only double fault but came back with two big serves to close out the win.

Sabalenka will face Danielle Collins or Victoria Azarenka in the semi-final on Friday. 

Data Debrief: Top 10

Sabalenka (10) has become only the second player to reach 10 or more WTA-1000 semi-finals since the start of the 2020 season, along with Iga Swiatek (16).

With Sabalenka joining Swiatek and Coco Gauff, it is the first time the WTA’s top three players have reached the semi-final at the same WTA event since Roland Garros in 2013 – excluding the WTA Tour Finals.

Sabalenka has spent the most time out on the court in WTA clay events in 2024, with this match bringing her up to 25 hours and 34 minutes.

Naomi Osaka claimed a straight sets victory over Clara Burel in the first round of the Italian Open.

Making her first appearance in Rome since 2021, former world number one Osaka prevailed 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 on Wednesday, marking her first win over a top-50 opponent on clay since she defeated Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros in 2019.

Osaka, who is now ranked 173rd in the world by the WTA, will face Marta Kostyuk in the second round. 

She previously faced Kostyuk in the 2020 US Open, en route to winning her third major title.

Data Debrief: Back with a bang

Osaka reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open in 2019, but did not win a game in 2021 and has not appeared at any other edition since then.

That means the 26-year-old won her first match at the event since she beat Mihaela Buzarnescu in 2019 (1,819 days ago). She wrapped up the win in one hour and 24 minutes, finishing with 27 winners, including eight aces.

Iga Swiatek clinched the Madrid Open title after downing defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in a gruelling final.

In a rematch of last year's final, the top two players in the world did battle in thrilling fashion on Saturday, with Swiatek eventually prevailing 7-5 4-6 7-6 (9-7) after three hours and 14 minutes on court.

It marked Swiatek's first title in Madrid, and the Pole had to do it the hard way, saving three championship points before finally coming out on top in the tie-break, which she sealed with her second championship point when Sabalenka sent a backhand long.

This victory means Swiatek, who has won the French Open on three occasions, has now won every European clay court tournament at WTA 500 level or higher.

It was also Swiatek's seventh victory over Sabalenka, from what was their 10th meeting.

Data Debrief: Clay queen Swiatek rolls on

Swiatek has now won her past seven WTA Tour-level finals, since the defeat to Sabalenka in Madrid last season, while only Elena Rybakina can match her haul of three titles so far in 2024.

This was the longest singles final of the year so far on the WTA Tour, while it was the fourth show-piece match in a WTA 1000 event to be decided by a third set tie-break.

Since the format’s introduction in 2009, only Serena Williams (13) and Victoria Azarenka (10) have more WTA 1000 titles than Swiatek, whose tally of nine equals the efforts of Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova.

Meanwhile, of players to have made at least 10 appearances at clay court tournaments, only Chris Evert, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf have a higher ratio of victories in the Open Era than Swiatek (8/18).

In fact, Swiatek has now claimed a tournament victory in 31 per cent (9/29) of the WTA 1000 main draws she has entered, the highest percentage of any player since the format’s introduction in 2009.

Coco Gauff made a flying start to her Madrid Open campaign on Thursday, recording the first double bagel main-draw win of her career as she cruised past Arantxa Rus to reach the round of 32.

Gauff needed just 51 minutes to see off 33-year-old Rus as she booked a meeting with Ukraine's Dayana Yamstremska for Saturday. 

The US Open champion lost just 18 points throughout the match – eight in the opener and 10 in the second set – as she put any doubts over her recent form to bed in emphatic fashion.

Gauff's power proved too much for Rus in the opener, the third seed winning 88 per cent of points behind her first serve and converting three of four break points to go a set up in just 23 minutes.

Rus brought up four break points midway through the second set, but when she failed to convert them, Gauff punished her in ruthless fashion by reeling off another three games then finishing things with a terrific forehand winner. 

Speaking after her win, the American said: "I played really well today. It was just one of those days for me… 6-0 6-0, I've never done that before, I'll probably never do it again."

Data Debrief: Gauff matches Azarenka, Halep feat

Gauff is just the third player to register a 6-0 6-0 win in the women's singles draw at the Madrid Open, following in the footsteps of two former world number ones in Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep.

The American, who only turned 20 last month, is also the youngest player to double bagel an opponent in any main-draw match on the WTA Tour since Iga Swiatek did so against Karolina Pliskova in the 2021 Italian Open final in Rome. 

Victoria Azarenka made light work of progressing into the round of 32 at the Madrid Open and she made history in the progress.

Azarenka, a two-time finalist in Madrid, despatched Tatjana Maria 6-3 6-1 on Thursday.

It brought up her 200th victory at WTA 1000 events, which makes her the first woman to hit that milestone since the format was introduced in 2009.

The former world number one needed just 81 minutes on court to get the job done, and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo in the next round.

Data Debrief

This was Azarenka's first meeting with Maria, and her service game was excellent, with the Belarusian winning 63.2 per cent of her first-serve points. She also saved five break points, having offered up seven, and converted six going the other way.

Azarenka, who has won 10 WTA 1000 events, is 14 clear of next-best Simona Halep (186) on the list of women with the most WTA 1000 match wins. 

Aryna Sabalenka’s ruthless defence of her Australian Open title was powered by a sense of fun and new-found inner calm.

The world number two lifted her first grand slam trophy at Melbourne Park 12 months ago and has been untouchable this fortnight.

She did not drop a set in seven matches and defeated first-time grand slam finalist Zheng Qinwen 6-3 6-2 to become the first player since compatriot Victoria Azarenka 11 years ago to claim back-to-back titles.

“I don’t know how to describe my emotions,” said Sabalenka. “But definitely I’m super, super happy and proud of everything I was able to achieve so far. I’m just happy with the level I played today.”

Zheng, who did not face a top-50 player through the first six rounds, had hoped to emulate the watching Li Na and claim the title for China a decade on.

But the 21-year-old, the 12th first-time slam finalist in the women’s game in the last three years, was up against it from the start and Sabalenka wrapped up victory in only 76 minutes despite a brief disruption from pro-Palestine protesters.

Sabalenka has ridden emotional highs and lows throughout her career, overcoming the yips on her serve two years ago and several bruising semi-final losses before she reached her first final 12 months ago.

She showed tremendous consistency at the slams last year, reaching at least the last four in each one, but there were still crushing defeats in big matches, most painfully in the US Open final against Coco Gauff, after which Sabalenka was seen backstage smashing her rackets.

But in Melbourne this year the 25-year-old has been flawless, with her only testing match coming in the semi-finals against Gauff and resulting in a cathartic victory.

“I think it’s all come with experience,” she said. “There is not going to be big wins without really tough losses. Of course I was very down after those matches. I was crying, I was smashing the racket, as we see. I was really crazy.

“But then, after a day or two, we sit down with the team, thinking, ‘OK, what do we have to do to fix it and to make sure this will never happen again’.”

Sabalenka’s ferocity on court is at odds with her fun-loving persona off it, and her team can often be seen joking around behind the scenes, while a tradition this year was for the Belarusian to write her signature on her fitness trainer Jason Stacy’s bald head.

Helping her find an emotional equilibrium during matches has been a lengthy process, with Stacy saying: “That’s been the plan for years. First making her more aware of what’s happening.

“It’s been a big part. She’s just hiding it really well, and it’s not guaranteed it’s going to be that way every week. But that’s what makes her so dangerous and so powerful as well that part of her. It’s beautiful.”

Sabalenka said with a smile: “It’s actually good that I’m two different people on and off the court, because if I would be the same person that I am on the court off the court, I think I wouldn’t have my team around me and I think I would be alone.

“It takes me so much time to become who I am right now on court, to have this control of myself, and to understand myself better.”

Sabalenka seized control of the match from the start, opening up a 3-0 lead before Zheng gained a foothold courtesy of some impressive serving.

Three double faults in one game was a disastrous start to the second set, though, and even four missed match points could not derail Sabalenka.

Zheng, who will break into the top 10 for the first time on Monday, was disappointed with her performance, saying: “To play against her I think it’s so important to hold your own service game. But I couldn’t do that, especially at the beginning.

“I didn’t perform my best. That’s really a pity for me because I really wanted to show better than that.”

Sabalenka used her acceptance speech to thank her family, and a second slam title fulfilled the dream she shared with her late father Sergey, who died in 2019.

“It was really important,” she said. “Of course he’s my biggest motivation. He’s been everything for me.

“But right now I have my mom, my sister, who is here with me, and I feel like I have to think about them. But I just feel that he’s always with me. I’m very thankful for everything he did for me, and I think if not him I wouldn’t be here.

“Now, having two grand slam titles, it definitely gives me more confidence and belief in myself. I just have this, knowing that all my life it wasn’t a waste of time and I was doing the right thing. I’m where I’m meant to be.”

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Zheng Qinwen to make it back-to-back titles at the Australian Open.

The second seed did not drop a set all fortnight, beating first-time major finalist Zheng 6-3 6-2 to become the first woman since fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in 2013 to successfully defend the trophy.

Britain’s Alfie Hewett was unable to match Sabalenka, losing 6-2 6-4 to Tokito Oda in the men’s wheelchair final.

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The tournament will crown a first time Australian Open champion in the men’s singles on Sunday night.

After stunning Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, 22-year-old fourth seed Jannik Sinner goes into his first grand slam decider as the favourite.

There he will take on third seed Daniil Medvedev, who has survived three five-set matches and will hope to make it third time lucky having finished as runner-up in 2021 and 2022.

Iga Swiatek won the battle of the grand slam champions against Sofia Kenin to reach the second round of the Australian Open.

Kenin lifted her first major title here in 2020 before losing to Swiatek in the French Open final the same year but has struggled since with injuries and a loss of form.

The American remains a dangerous player, though, and knocked Coco Gauff out in the first round of Wimbledon last year.

She served for the opening set before Swiatek fought back to take it in a
tie-break, and the Pole was the steadier in the second to claim a 7-6 (2) 6-2
victory.

“For sure, it wasn’t the easiest first round,” said the world number one. “She played really well. I tried to find my rhythm, especially in the first set. I’m happy at the end of the set I could win the most important points.

“I’m happy that I am through and I could play a little bit better in the second set.”

Remarkably, Swiatek was the only player in her initial section of the draw not to have made an Australian Open final.

Next she will take on another American in Danielle Collins, who ended Swiatek’s best run in Melbourne so far by beating her in the semi-finals two years ago before losing to Ashleigh Barty.

That is Collins’ only victory in five meetings with Swiatek, who won their most recent match 6-1 6-0 in Cincinnati last summer.

“I can’t say that I have an easy draw here,” said Swiatek. “I’ll try to do my best. Danielle is a really good player. We played really tight matches. On the other hand, our last match, from the score, I had it under control.

“Every match is different. I’m not going to anticipate anything. I’m just going to be ready and we’ll see.”

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Collins was a 6-2 3-6 6-1 winner over former Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion Angelique Kerber.

The German is part of a quartet of mothers making their Melbourne returns along with Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina having given birth to daughter Liana last February.

“It is for sure different to be back like this,” said the 35-year-old. “I think I’m open more than before, and also the other players are. I’m also more relaxed so I feel that they appreciate it and I think it’s nice to see so many moms are back on tour.

“It is a long way to be back and to play on a high level again. But, on the other side, I have the experience, I know how it is. I played so many grand slams over the years. So I’m more trying to find my rhythm, to being on court and feeling good again.”

There were also victories for two other former grand slam winners, with 18th seed Victoria Azarenka beating Camila Giorgi 6-1 4-6 6-3 and Sloane Stephens seeing off Olivia Gadecki 6-3 6-1.

World number three Jessica Pegula was pushed all the way before emerging victorious 7-5 4-6 6-4 against Irina-Camelia Begu in Thursday's Charleston Open third round.

Pegula, the top-ranked American and the tournament's overall top seed, may have thought it was going to be smooth sailing after collecting a break-to-love in the match's opening game, but it was just the beginning of a two-hour-and-32-minute battle.

Begu played terrific tennis against a world-class opponent, winning 47 per cent of the match's total points, but she shot herself in the foot with eight double faults while Pegula had just one.

With the victory, Pegula booked her place in the quarter-final against Spain's Paula Badosa after her stylish 6-1 6-3 result over Russian 19-year-old Diana Shnaider.

Badosa now has a 4-2 record since the beginning of March, but both of those losses came to the in-form Elena Rybakina in eliminations from both the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open.

Meanwhile, reigning Wimbledon and US Open finalist Ons Jabeur needed just 82 minutes to dispatch Caroline Dolehide 6-3 7-5, and combined with her opening victory against Lesia Tsurenko it is Jabeur's first consecutive wins since the Adelaide International in early January.

Jabeur will play Anna Kalinskaya in her quarter-final after the Russian upset two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

It was a strong day for the Russians, as Ekaterina Alexandrova got the better of Julia Grabher 6-4 6-2, and world number eight Daria Kasatkina knocked out Bernarda Pera 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic won the longest match of the day in a two-hour-and-45-minute war of attrition against Shelby Rogers 4-6 7-5 6-2, but the Americans had something to cheer for in the late window as Madison Keys advanced past Magda Linette 6-2 3-6 6-1.

World number five Ons Jabeur is through to the third round of the Charleston Open after making a winning start in a 6-3 6-3 triumph over Lesia Tsurenko on Tuesday.

Jabeur, a finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open this past season, received a bye through to the second round thanks to her status as the second seed, and she had to save three break points in the opening game of the match against Tsurenko.

After repelling the early push, Jabeur rattled off the first five games to take a commanding lead, and she secured another break to begin the second frame.

Meanwhile, with half of the field still completing their first-round matchups, 12th seed Paula Badosa proved too strong for Egypt's Mayar Sherif in a comfortable 6-3 6-1 victory.

Spain's Badosa will play Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the second round after the promising 20-year-old took just 72 minutes to dispatch Russia's Evgeniya Rodina 6-3 6-2.

Rodina was the only loss from the four Russians in action on Tuesday, with Anna Kalinskaya defeating Alize Cornet 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2, 19-year-old Diana Shnaider eliminating Alycia Parks 6-4 6-3, and Varvara Gracheva prevailing 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 against Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Bernarda Pera advanced past Clare Liu 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 in one of the all-American showdowns, while ninth seed Madison Keys beat Emma Navarro 6-4 6-3 and Shelby Rogers took out Danielle Collins 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-1 in the others.

Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, handled the challenge of Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-1, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka came back to defeat Sloane Stephens 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Last week's Indian Wells Open champion Elena Rybakina has extended her winning streak to 10 matches after defeating Paula Badosa 3-6 7-5 6-3 in Saturday's Miami Open third round.

Kazakhstan's Rybakina, who is also the reigning Wimbledon Champion and Australian Open finalist, got the better of Badosa for the second time during her current run, also eliminating her from Indian Wells. 

The 23-year-old has to be considered one of the favourites to go all the way, having knocked off world number one Iga Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka to lift the trophy in California.

Rybakina will meet Belgium's Elise Mertens in the fourth round after she beat Croatia's Petra Martic 6-4 6-3.

Meanwhile, the biggest upset of the day was delivered by Russia's Anastasia Potapova, bouncing sixth seed Coco Gauff 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-2.

Potapova, who has never won a tournament above the WTA 250 level, will face China's Zheng Qinwen for a spot in the quarter-finals after her three-hour 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 triumph over Liudmila Samsonova.

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, the 24th seed, eliminated Brazilian 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 4-6 6-3, while 20th seed Magda Linette of Poland knocked out Belarusian 14th seed Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-4.

Unseeded American Clare Liu went down 4-6 7-5 6-4 against Italy's Martina Trevisan, but third seed Jessica Pegula will continue to fly the flag for the United States after advancing 6-1 7-6 (7-0) in her all-American showdown with Danielle Collins.

Aryna Sabalenka received "hate" in the dressing room after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sabalenka finished as runner-up at Indian Wells last week, losing to Elena Rybakina, who she defeated in the Australian Open final in January.

Born in Belarus, an ally of Russia, the 24-year-old revealed ahead of her Miami Open campaign that "weird conversations" had come from members of other players' teams, rather than her fellow pros.

"It was really tough for me because I've never faced that much hate in the locker room," she said. "There are a lot of haters on Instagram when you're losing matches, but in the locker room I've never faced that.

"I had some, not like fights, but I had some weird conversations with, not the girls, but with members of their team. It was tough. It was a tough period. But now it's getting better.

"It was really tough to understand that there's so many people who hate me for no reason. I did nothing."

Players from Russia and Belarus have been classed as neutral since the invasion, and were banned from last year's Wimbledon.

Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko pulled out of her match against Sabalenka at Indian Wells after suffering a panic attack following a conversation she had with WTA chief executive Steve Simon about tennis's response to the invasion.

World number one Iga Swiatek had called for greater support for Ukrainian players as a result of the conflict but another Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka, disagreed.

"There are certain players that have different feelings and behaviours. Overall, I don't necessarily share the same opinion as Iga does," Azarenka said.

"I'd encourage her to look at the things that have been done before she makes comments. As a player council member I'm happy to provide the facts. That would be a more appropriate way to have that conversation."