Cincinnati, August 19: Aryna Sabalenka has secured her place in the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open. In a match lasting 54 minutes, she defeated Wang Xinyu with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
With this victory, Sabalenka has reached the Round of 16 in 45 WTA 1000 events throughout her career. This achievement positions her as one of the leading active players in terms of wins at Cincinnati.
Sabalenka now boasts 50 career wins in WTA 1000 events. She is the third player to reach this milestone since the format began in 2009, following Serena Williams (104) and Iga Swiatek (58).
Meanwhile, fifth seed Mira Andreeva advanced to the fourth round by defeating 32nd seed Janis Tzen in a match that lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes, with a score of 6-1, 7-6(5).
Andreeva, who was a quarterfinalist in her only previous appearance at this tournament in 2024, has won consecutive matches for the first time since claiming her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June.
She will now face the tenth seed Marta Kostyuk for the fourth time this year. Kostyuk leads their head-to-head record 2-1, although Andreeva triumphed over Kostyuk in their last encounter at the Roland Garros semifinals.
2023 champion Coco Gauff also secured her spot in the fourth round of the 2026 Cincinnati Open by defeating fellow American Ann Li 6-1, 7-6 (3).
Gauff is now in her 36th WTA 1000 fourth round, including six this season. Among active players participating in singles at Cincinnati, only Aryna Sabalenka (44), Karolína Plíšková (44), Elina Svitolina (43), Iga Swiatek (38), and Jessica Pegula (38) have more fourth-round appearances than her.
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