{"id":5270,"date":"2024-03-23T14:01:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T12:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5270"},"modified":"2024-03-23T14:01:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T12:01:19","slug":"stoic-sabalenka-makes-winning-start-to-miami-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5270","title":{"rendered":"Stoic Sabalenka makes winning start to Miami Open"},"content":{"rendered":"
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World number two Aryna Sabalenka made a stoic return to the court on Friday as she eased past Paula Badosa 6-4 6-3 to reach the third round of the Miami Open just days after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.<\/p>\n

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What was a long and difficult week for the 25-year-old Belarusian, who had received a first round bye, was made a little bit longer as heavy rains swept across South Florida. It delayed the start of play by just over six hours.
\nWhile not at her sharpest, the Australian Open champion made quick work of her Spanish opponent as dark clouds again threatened to halt action.
\n\u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t surprised at all (by Sabalenka\u2019s play)\u201d, said Badosa. \u201cShe\u2019s a very, very strong woman, strong personality, you can see it on the court. I knew she was going to play very well and I told her I wish her the best and let\u2019s see if she can go very deep in this tournament.\u201d
\nSabalenka issued a brief statement on Wednesday, saying her heart was broken by the \u201cunthinkable tragedy,\u201d but has otherwise remained out of the spotlight. The statement also revealed that they had split up before the tragedy.
\nThe Miami-Dade police department confirmed on Tuesday that they had responded to a call the day before at a Miami resort about reports of a man jumping off a balcony. The police said no foul play was suspected.
\nKoltsov, 42, played for the Belarus national team at the 2002 and 2010 Olympics and spent parts of three seasons with the National Hockey League\u2019s Pittsburgh Penguins between 2003 and 2006.
\nThe news of Koltsov\u2019s death sent a shockwave through the Miami Open as Sabalenka\u2019s fellow players rallied around her, including her opponent Badosa.
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t very comfortable to play my best friend in this situation,\u201d Badosa said. \u201cHonestly both of us are pretty strong mentally, we\u2019re strong women, I proved it, she proved it.\u201d
\nWhen play finally began under gloomy skies, the two players, both dressed in black, stepped onto Grandstand court to a smattering of applause from the small crowd that waited out the rain.
\nBefore warming up, Badosa and Sabalenka met at the net for the coin toss, the Belarusian breaking into a smile then trading fist bumps before getting to work.
\nSabalenka, wearing her familiar all-business look, was initially shaky as she served up three double faults in her opening two service games.
\nBut the twice Australian Open champion had enough weapons in her arsenal to secure the only break of the first set, going ahead 4-3 on way to taking a 1-0 lead.
\nLooking increasingly comfortable, Sabalenka secured a break at 2-1 in the second set and then broke her friend again to seal the victory. The two players then shared a warm embrace at the net.
\nNext up for the Belarusian is Ukraine\u2019s Anhelina Kalinina.
\nSabalenka and Badosa were among the handful matches to be completed before rain arrived halting play a second time.
\nOn the men\u2019s side of the tournament, Czech Tomas Machac pulled off the surprise of the day by upsetting fifth seed Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4, ending the Russian\u2019s run of 11 consecutive opening round wins.
\nIn other women\u2019s action, third seeded American Coco Gauff sped into the third round with 6-1 6-2 victory over Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aryna Sabalenka, the world number two tennis player, won against Paula Badosa with scores of 6-4, 6-3 at the Miami Open, advancing to the third round. This match occurred shortly after the death of Sabalenka’s former boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov. The match’s start was delayed by over six hours due to heavy rain in South Florida. Sabalenka, who is 25 years old and from Belarus, had received a bye in the first round. Despite the emotional and weather-related challenges, she performed well against Badosa, who acknowledged Sabalenka’s strength and wished her well in the tournament. Sabalenka had issued a statement expressing her heartbreak over Koltsov’s death, who was confirmed to have died after jumping off a balcony at a Miami resort, with no foul play suspected according to the Miami-Dade police department. Koltsov was a former professional hockey player who participated in the 2002 and 2010 Olympics and played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL. Sabalenka’s next opponent in the tournament is Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina. Additionally, on the men’s side of the Miami Open, Czech player Tomas Machac defeated the fifth seed Andrey Rublev, while American Coco Gauff won against Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska in the women’s category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1534,3163,438,186,2134,1666,2183,932,3,2692,3164,250,2467,1394,2446,2651,423,184,623,1817,1827,340,17,380,339,1944,1100,18],"class_list":["post-5270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-arsenal","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-australian-open","tag-business","tag-challenges","tag-clouds","tag-coco-gauff","tag-court","tag-cyprus","tag-death","tag-death-of-former-boyfriend","tag-google","tag-heavy-rains","tag-man","tag-match","tag-miami-open","tag-olympics","tag-police","tag-rain","tag-split","tag-statement","tag-tennis","tag-ukraine","tag-us","tag-weather","tag-woman","tag-women","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nStoic Sabalenka makes winning start to Miami Open<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stoic Sabalenka makes winning start to Miami Open\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aryna Sabalenka, the world number two tennis player, won against Paula Badosa with scores of 6-4, 6-3 at the Miami Open, advancing to the third round. This match occurred shortly after the death of Sabalenka's former boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov. The match's start was delayed by over six hours due to heavy rain in South Florida. Sabalenka, who is 25 years old and from Belarus, had received a bye in the first round. Despite the emotional and weather-related challenges, she performed well against Badosa, who acknowledged Sabalenka's strength and wished her well in the tournament. Sabalenka had issued a statement expressing her heartbreak over Koltsov's death, who was confirmed to have died after jumping off a balcony at a Miami resort, with no foul play suspected according to the Miami-Dade police department. Koltsov was a former professional hockey player who participated in the 2002 and 2010 Olympics and played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL. Sabalenka's next opponent in the tournament is Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina. Additionally, on the men's side of the Miami Open, Czech player Tomas Machac defeated the fifth seed Andrey Rublev, while American Coco Gauff won against Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska in the women's category.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5270\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-23T12:01:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/stoic-sabalenka-makes-winning-start-to-miami-open.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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