The frustrated Sabalenka wins the opening game and starts the title hunt in Beijing

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A frustrated Aryna Sabalenka began her China Open title challenge with a 6-4, 6-1 win over struggling Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew on Saturday.

The top seed and number two in the world will meet 29th seed New Zealander Lulu Sun or Ashlyn Krueger from the USA in the third round in Beijing.

The Belarusian, who had just won the US Open, fought hard against an opponent ranked 187th in the world and played the biggest match of her young career.

The 22-year-old Mananchaya may have been inexperienced at this level, but the athletic Thai refused to give up on seemingly lost goals.

However, Mananchaya struggled to serve and three-time major champion Sabalenka broke out to take a 4-2 lead in the first set.

The Thai refused to be overwhelmed by Sabalenka’s far greater power and she immediately broke back to a roar of applause from the Beijing crowd.

The error-prone Sabalenka didn’t get going, but managed the first set point on the Thai’s serve, but then missed an uncomplicated volley.

She made no mistake on her second chance and took a 3-1 lead in the second set.

Sabalenka barely managed a smile at the end.

Also in the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament is third seed Jasmine Paolini, but the Italian did it the hard way and fought back to beat Denmark’s Clara Tauson 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 hit.

World number 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek withdrew before the tournament for “personal reasons”.

pst/dh