Aryna Sabalenka crashes in Rome

AFP, Rome :
Women’s world number two Aryna Sabalenka’s hopes of a maiden crown in the Italian capital were crushed.
The Australian Open champion, fresh from a clay court title in Madrid last weekend, lost 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to US world number 134 Sofia Kenin on Thursday.
Kenin’s victory was her first against a top-10 rival since shocking world number one Ashleigh Barty on her way to her surprise Australian Open title three years ago.
Sabalenka had not been defeated before the quarter-finals of any event this year and came into Rome as the match-win leader in 2023 with 29 match wins.
“Obviously super happy, I played really well,” former world number four Kenin said.
“Of course she’s had some great results, great year, so of course going into the match there’s not much pressure on my side.”
In another shock, Taylor Townsend, ranked a lowly 168, stunned third-ranked Jessica Pegula 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to also make the third round.
Townsend’s only previous top-10 victory came during a fourth-round run at the 2019 US Open, where she beat Simona Halep, then ranked fourth in the world. She next faces China’s Wang Xiyu.
“It was 100 percent mental for me. I knew I didn’t have anything to lose. … I just felt super prepared,” left-hander Townsend told Tennis Channel.
“I tried to stay as free as possible and have a lot of fun out there, and I did.”
World number five Coco Gauff eased into the third round with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Yulia Putintseva in just under an hour.
“She’s obviously a tricky player, has some big wins. Made the quarters of the French Open a couple times. I know clay is her surface. It’s also kind of mine, too, so it was a good match today,” said Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up.