Aryna Sabalenko played a surprisingly difficult match in the second round of the competition in Cincinnati: the second favorite lost one set to the American Anne Lee (192nd WTA ranking), and won the rest on emotions.

Aryna SabalenkoPhoto: Han Yan / Xinhua News / Profimedia

Aryna Sabalenko in the 1/8 finals of WTA Cincinnati – lost a set with Ann Lee

Li, who was ranked 44th in the world at the start of 2022 (a career-best ranking), led 5-4 in the first set but succumbed to the pressure and Sabalenka won the set by winning three straight games for 7 points -5.

In the second set, Anne lost only five service points and made two breaks: 6-2.

In the decisive match, Arina was better: she led with a score of 5-1, missed the first match point at a score of 5-3, and then finished the match with white (6-4).

The athlete from Belarus has a match with Russian Daria Kasatkina (13 WTA) ahead of her.

WTA Cincinnati, results recorded on Wednesday in the second round

Daria Kasatkina (14) – Varvara Grachova 6-3, 6-1

Jessica Pegula (3) – Martina Trevisan (2) 6-7, 6-2, 6-3

Marketa Vondrousova (10) – Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2

Maria Sakkari (8) – Sorana Kirstea 2-6, 6-3, 7-5

Iga Sviatek (1) – Daniel Collins 6-1, 6-0

Karolina Muhova – Petra Martich 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Qinwen Zheng – Venus Williams 1-6, 6-2, 6-1

Linda Noskova – Petra Kvitova (9) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

Jasmin Paolini – Christina Buksa 6-1, 6-3

Olena Rybakina (4) – Olena Ostapenko (6) 6-7, 6-2, 6-4

Marie Buzkova – Elise Mertens 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Aryna Sabalenko (2) – Ann Lee 7-5, 2-6, 6-4

Donna Vekich – Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Coco Gauf (7) – Mayar Sherif 6-2, 6-2.

The Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) is a WTA 1000 event. The tournament is played on hard from August 14 to 20, 2023, has a total prize pool of $2,788,468, and has a starting main draw of 64 players. Titled champion – Caroline Garcia.