World number one Aryna Sabalenka saved 12 break points to survive her Cincinnati opener against Czech Marketa Vondrousova 7-5 6-1 on Saturday, as the men's defending champion Jannik Sinner cruised past Colombian qualifier Daniel Galan 6-1 6-1.
Sabalenka, who had a first-round bye, had not played since her semi-final defeat at Wimbledon and said the downtime served her well as she mounted a tremendous defensive effort to set up a meeting with Briton Emma Raducanu.
"I played so many matches this season so I'm quite experienced to handle those key moments," Sabalenka told Tennis Channel. "Key for me is always to go for it without doubting my decisions. So far it's been working really well."
Raducanu made easy work of Serbian Olga Danilovic 6-3 6-2 in her first match under new coach Francisco Roig, after a handful of confidence-building performances this summer that included a trip to the semi-finals at the Washington Open.
"I'm really building some momentum. I'm really happy with how I've stayed pretty consistent over the last few months," said Raducanu, who lost to Sabalenka in a third-round thriller at Wimbledon this year.
"I still feel like there's a long way to go but just working hard behind the scenes, putting a lot of hours in and hoping I can trust in that."
Italy's Sinner, who also took a break following his Wimbledon win, was in pristine form as he produced just four unforced errors to swat aside Galan in 59 minutes earlier in the day.
He will next play Canadian Gabriel Diallo, Reuters reported.
"It's very difficult to play here, I feel like the ball is flying, it's very fast," said Sinner.
"So when you lose confidence with a couple of shots, it makes it very, very difficult to play."
Poland's third seed Iga Swiatek was back on top form after an early exit in Montreal as she sprinted through the first set and fended off four break points in the second to beat Anastasia Potapova comfortably 6-1 6-4.
She next plays Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, who she has defeated in all three previous meetings, in the third round of the US Open tune-up tournament.
Australian Open winner Madison Keys had a tougher opening to her Cincinnati campaign, saving two match points to survive against German Eva Lys with a 1-6 6-3 7-6(1) win to punch her ticket to the third round where she will play Japan's Aoi Ito.
"I just kept trying to listen to everyone here cheering me," said American Keys, who triumphed in 2019 and clinched Saturday's affair with an unreturnable forehand. "It helped me get back into the match and across the finish line."
Earlier on Saturday, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech upset Norwegian 11th seed Casper Ruud 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2, while eighth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti lost to France's Benjamin Bonzi 5-7 6-4 7-6(4).
Fourth seed Taylor Fritz sent over a dozen aces to close out the day's program on Center Court with a routine 6-4 6-4 win over American compatriot Emilio Nava and book a meeting with Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
