Tennis: Sabalenka beats Martic in the Western and Southern Open first round

Ninth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus claimed a first-round victory at the Western & Southern Open on Monday afternoon, easing past Petra Martic of Croatia, 6-1, 6-4 in the first meeting between the two Top 25 players. Next up for Sabalenka will be the winner of the first-round clash between Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia and Zheng Saisai of China. If Zheng wins, it will be a rematch of the San Jose final from two weeks ago, where Zheng upset Sabalenka for her first WTA singles title.