Aryna Sabalenka notches 15th straight win by defeating No. 18 seed Madison Keys

No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka tied her career-best win streak of 15 tour level matches by defeating No. 18 seed Madison Keys in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth round of the China Open on Wednesday. Sabalenka dominated with her serve, winning 84 percent of her first serve points.

“I think I wasn’t, like, overhitting my serves,” Sabalenka said after the match. “I wasn’t rushing the point. I was just trying to build the point. I was waiting for the right shot to finish the point.”

The first two games looked evenly matched, with both players holding serve easily. Sabalenka held her first two service games at love, and broke Keys in the third game. Keys returned the favor in the sixth to level the set 3-3. Sabalenka broke Keys again in the following game and held her serve to go up 5-3. After Keys won the ninth game, Sabalenka held her serve at love for the third time to take the set.  

The first eight games of the second went in the exact same order as the first, as Sabalenka broke Keys twice and Keys followed suit once, putting Sabalenka up 5-3 again. After getting broken in the seventh game, Keys showed the most frustration of the match by repeatedly smacking herself on the head with her racket. In the only discrepancy between sets, Sabalenka ended the set earlier by taking the ninth game.

Sabalenka has talked a lot about her improved mental game recently. It has shown, as she has looked much calmer on the court during her three matches in Beijing.

“I’ve been through a lot,” she admitted. “Those difficult moments, I’m just reminding myself, ‘Listen, you have been able to handle a lot of stuff, and this is just a tennis match... You’re strong enough. You have everything you need to win this match. Just trust yourself and fight for it.’”

The win improves Sabalenka’s record on hard courts this year to 33-6. She will look to continue her success in the quarter-finals against Karolina Muchova on Friday.

—Reporting by Ryan Loomer