London: Second seed Aryna Sabalenka crushed Colombian teenager Maria Camila Osorio Serrano to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon on Friday although a late stutter took the sheen off what had been an otherwise ruthless 6-0 6-3 display.
Sabalenka, who had been given a scare by lowly ranked Briton Katie Boulter in the previous round, romped to the first set and looked set to wrap up victory with her opponent winning just a solitary game.
She was made to wait, however, after being broken in her penultimate service game and while Sabalenka’s celebrations were somewhat muted when she eventually finished the job, her 19-year-old opponent wore a big smile as the pair shook hands at the net.
It had been an otherwise dominant display from 23-year-old Belarusian Sabalenka, who broke Osorio Serrano’s serve six times to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.
Next up for Sabalenka will be an encounter with Kazakhstan’s 18th seed Elena Rybakina who reached the last 16 with a 6-1 6-4 win over American Shelby Rogers.
