Katie Boulter suffered a second-round defeat to Aryna Sabalenka at the China Open; The British number one served for both sets in what turned out to be a tight contest in Beijing before her opponent hit back to win 7-5 7-6 (2)
Tuesday 3 October 2023 13:10, UK
Katie Boulter pushed world number one Aryna Sabalenka before succumbing to defeat in a second-round battle at the China Open.
The British number one continued her strong season by coming through qualifying and defeating Magdalena Frech in the first round in Beijing to set up a clash with Belarusian Sabalenka, playing her first event at the head of the rankings.
She came close to upsetting Sabalenka at Wimbledon two years ago and this was another tight encounter, with the British player serving for both sets before her opponent hit back to win 7-5 7-6 (2).
Coco Gauff survived a marathon encounter with Croatian Petra Martic to extend her winning streak to 14 matches.
Martic served for the match in the third set, but Gauff broke back before coming through a deciding tie-break to win 7-5 5-7 7-6 (2) after three hours and one minute.
"I was just trying to play every ball," said the US Open champion. "She raised her level and she was playing really well.
"I didn't play my best the whole match, but the tie-breaker was definitely my best (period) of the match. These matches are going to make me tougher for the rest of the tournament and the rest of the season."
Fourth seed Jessica Pegula came from a set down to defeat Anna Blinkova 6-7 (2) 6-2 6-1, but Ons Jabeur saw her winning run end after her title in Ningbo last week, going down 7-6 (5) 6-1 to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.
